Yitpi Yartapuultiku, the soul of Port Adelaide, recently opened to the public at an event attended by around 10,000 people. Nearly 30 years in the making, the cultural centre is led and mostly funded by the Port Adelaide Enfield Council. Aboriginal Way spoke with Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis O'Brien and Aboriginal Community Lead Rodney Welch onsite about the importance of the new centre.
In this episode, Aboriginal Way speaks with the South Australian Museum's Aboriginal Heritage and Repatriation Manager, Anna Russo. Learn more about the museum's updated repatriation process, the different communities that have been involved and the importance of repatriation in reconnecting Aboriginal people with their heritage. You can read the accompanying story in the Autumn 2025 edition of Aboriginal Way magazine, out now - Aboriginal Way magazine - SA Native Title. Aboriginal Way has spoke...
Groups of young Aboriginal people are learning more about Country by heading out to remote nature reserves for 5-day camps through the Nature Foundation’s Kids on Country junior ranger program. Traditional Owners mentor high school students as they engage in practical on-Country studies in conservation and land management through a SACE-accredited course, which also involves classroom study and online learning. Nature Foundation’s CEO Alex Nankivell, says that since launching in 2016, Kids on Co...
The preservation of the culturally significant Koonalda Cave in South Australia’s Far West Coast (FWC) region will be bolstered by the installation of new security cameras and the implementation of a comprehensive’ management plan. In 2022, the National Heritage listed cave was broken into and vandalised by unknown culprits, with the installation of these cameras a direct response to this incident. These new security measures were enabled by a $400,000 Australian Heritage Grant, facilitating the...
During her childhood, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG was told that she would never amount to anything. She went on to be described as “the greatest Aboriginal leader of the modern era.” Dr O’Donoghue, a Yankunytjatjara woman, passed away peacefully on Kaurna Country last year at the age of 91, and her life and legacy are soon to be commemorated with an exhibition in her honour. LOWITJA – A Life of Leadership and Legacy will feature a selection from Dr O’Donoghue’s extensive personal collection...
On Tuesday March 28 a sod turning ceremony was held to launch construction of the long-awaited Purrkanaitya Elders Village at Warriparinga/Bedford Park. Purrkanaitya is a Kaurna word meaning "for all Elders", with the facility set to deliver 40 modern and culturally appropriate homes near the Sturt River. The project is slated to take around 14 months, with the facility offering Elders the opportunity to live independently on country in affordable, safe and secure community housing. Funding for ...
State Records of South Australia was the country's first service of its kind when it was established more than 100 years ago in 1919. State Records SA has an Aboriginal Reference Group and specific Aboriginal access services, which include Aboriginal access officers. These services can help you find your Aboriginal family history through culturally sensitive archival records. They can specifically assist members of the Stolen Generations in identifying and becoming reunited with members of their...
Bangarra Dance Theatre are bringing a new cross-cultural collaboration to audiences around the country with ‘The Light Inside’, a joint-choreographed piece with leading Māori choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson. The project is a collaborative piece created by Patterson and Bangarra’s Deborah Brown, working together to honour their respective mother countries and the spirit that calls them home. Brown is a proud descendent of the Wakaid Clan and Meriam people in the Torres Strait and has cra...
Reconciliation SA have called for the date of the annual Australia Day celebration on January 26 to be moved, amidst efforts to strive for a more reflective approach to the national holiday. The date has remained a point of division amongst Australians, with regular debate arising in the lead up. Rec SA are asking the wider public to consider the viewpoint of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who relate Jan 26 with the dark history of early colonisation. Jeremy Johncock, a proud Wirang...
Gynburra Festival is the largest single Aboriginal Nation event held in Southern Australia. Last year the family friendly event celebrated its 10th year running, and this year it’s back over two days - this Friday, the 24th and Saturday, 25th January, at Port Victoria on the Garunnda, the Narungga name for the Yorke Peninsula. Today, we're speaking with Gynburra's founder and Managing Director, Garry Goldsmith.
The Indigenous Desert Alliance (IDA) held a significant conference of Elders, rangers, community leaders at Uluru, with over 400 attendees making their way to the biannual event. The conference celebrated “A Decade of Connection” in reference to the IDA’s past ten years of coordinating these events, with the three-day event running between November 11-14 and containing full-day rosters of workshops. The IDA was established to facilitate the sharing of lived experience from the vast network of Ab...
First Nations Healing (FNH), formerly Nunga Mi:Minar, is a family and domestic violence support service, which recently celebrated 50 years of operating in South Australia. The rebrand represents a shift in their service delivery, which now includes supporting not only victims but also perpetrators of family and domestic violence. In this episode, FNH CEO, Olive Bennell, and Strategy, Policy and Partnership Lead, Clinton Bennell, explain the organisation's new name, direction and why we should a...
On Wednesday Nov 27, the SA First Nations Voice to Parliament gave its inaugural address to the South Australian Parliament. The historic address was given in the Legislative Council Chamber at Parliament House, with Presiding Member Leeroy Bilney speaking on behalf of the collective members of the SA Voice. So far, the Voice has provided feedback on government legislation relating to early childhood development and preventative health, and is set to provide formal contribution to the royal comm...
One of the first-ever cultural tours on Kangaroo Island is now up and running. Ngarrindjeri Elder Mark Koolmatrie’s tourism company, Kool Tours has teamed up with SeaLink Kangaroo Island for the tour, which will respectfully share the unique culture and history of KI, or Nurrungaui as it is known to the Ngarrindjeri people. It’s proving to be a year of growth for Kool Tours. The company was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame at the South Australian Tourism Awards after winning gold medals t...
Yankunytjatjara Anangu woman Karina Lester has just travelled from the APY Lands to Baku, Azerbaijan for the world’s biggest climate change summit – COP 29. Along with an Indigenous Australian delegation, the traditional owner will share her community’s concerns and ideas about tackling climate change. As a second-generation nuclear test survivor, Karina will be advocating against nuclear projects as an alternative to fossil fuels. Karina Lester is an Aboriginal language expert at the University...
Held in the second week of November each year, Nunga Week is an annual week of events to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities’ contributions in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Council region. Nunga Week will be held next week, the 10-16th November this year, and AW went down to Port Adelaide to find out more about it from Rodney Welch, Aboriginal Community Development Lead.
Kauwi cultural cruise is a new cultural adventure set to show you a different side of the waters off the southern coast of Kaurna Yerta. The monthly two-hour cruise is a recent collaboration between Southern Cultural Immersion and Temptations Sailing, who both saw a gap for this offering in Adelaide’s tourism market. Southern Cultural Immersion offers cultural experiences right across the city of Adelaide from their base at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre, which they manage at Warriparinga. Te...
Narungga Nation have continued their efforts to restore traditional land management processes, holding inclusive workshops for Yorke Peninsula locals who are eager to explore the benefits of burning on Country. On September 30 and October 1 workshops were held at Ardrossan and Minlagawi Gum Flat, with Narungga fire practitioners demonstrating controlled burns on site. The Cultural Burns Education Project has seen the delivering of workshops and the production of short films to be used on social ...
South Australia's First Nations Business Showcase is back for 2024, bigger and better than ever. AW spoke to Michael Levin from The Circle about the event.
Pilot Indigenous coding program Indigi Code has been established for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with the hope they will be able to gain future employment and work remotely in the digital space. Indigi Code, a partnership between programming education provider 42 Adelaide and the Aboriginal Biodiversity Conservation (ABC) Foundation had its first session at Nguta College in September, with 20 students participating in a week-long course designed for entry-level coders. T...
Early last week, on September 23rd, the Nauo people’s final active native title application, Nauo #2, came to a successful conclusion from the Federal Court of Australia. Judge Justice O’Bryan handed down his verdict electronically from the Federal Court, giving the Nauo people native title rights and interests over the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula. Today, we’re speaking with Nauo Co-Chair Michael Miller, who is Co-Chair alongside Danielle James.
Mayibarrdu or Goose Island, off the West Coast of the Yorke Peninsula in the Spencer Gulf of South Australia, will return to the hands of its Traditional Owners, the Narungga Nation. This is following the Federal Court’s March 2023 recognition of the Narungga people as Native Title holders of the whole of the Yorke Peninsula. The island has been leased exclusively to private school Scotch College since 1966 through the Department of Environment and Water. Mayiburrdu is a small, rocky island west...
Many Australians, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, have felt overwhelming disappointment since Australia voted "no" in the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Nearly a year later, people are looking for a way to move forward from this. After writing the Voice to Parliament Handbook with journalist Kerry O'Brien in the lead-up to the referendum, respected Indigenous advocate Thomas Mayo has found that people are again looking to him for guidance. He has just publi...
On August 29, water was released from the Beetaloo Reservoir in an effort to preserve ancient river red gums and assist Nukunu to care for and connect to Country. They follow trial water releases from the Baroota Reservoir a couple weeks prior, and similar releases from the Beetaloo and Baroota reservoirs in 2021 and 2022. These releases were in response to community concern about the health of the ancient trees, many of which are estimated to be more than 500 years old. More than a billion litr...
Wakwakurna Kanyini is the new peak body for South Australian Aboriginal children and young people. Aboriginal Way spoke to Ashum Owen in her first week on the job as the inaugural Chief Executive about her plans for the organisation.
AW spoke to Voice representative Douglas Clinch Jr about his experience and early expectations in regards to the inaugural SA Voice to Parliament. Born and raised in the southern suburbs of Adelaide on Kaurna Country, Mr Clinch has worked in the Aboriginal community sector for over 30 years, including his current role as chair of Neporendi Aboriginal Forum Incorporated. At time of interview, he was working as a project officer in the Attorney Generals department and also credits his time working...
Yitpi Yartapuultiku or “soul of Port Adelaide” in Kaurna language, is a new Aboriginal cultural centre currently under construction on the shores of the Port River, right in the heart of Port Adelaide. You can see the centre really starting to take shape when driving past or going past on the train. It’s set to open its doors to the public in February 2025—only six months away. The centre has been a long time in the making, and today, AW is sitting down with Place Leader Rodney Welch, Site Coord...
We know there is a higher rate of diabetes amongst Indigenous Australians, but did you know just how high? Aboriginal people are about three times more likely to suffer from diabetes than non-Indigenous Australians and have a higher rate of complications from the disease. Aboriginal Australians are also about 4.7 times more likely to die from diabetes than their non-indigenous counterparts. The Telethon Kids Institute is currently undertaking a community-led study about why there are such high r...
In a groundbreaking development for the community of Coober Pedy, a new dialysis unit has been established by Purple House, bringing essential healthcare services closer to those in need. Coober Pedy is the first of six facilities announced alongside this funding, with Purple House working on the next five, including a new site at Yalata on the Far West Coast. The four-chair dialysis unit is the first to open from the Commonwealth’s $73 million package intended for up to 30 facilities to benefit...
This week has seen national NAIDOC week celebrated around the country, with a theme this year of ‘Keep the fire burning! Blak loud and proud!’ National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on Earth. AW went along to Naido...
