The Kaurna People
Tonight was the night my grandchildren came over to stay. They knew I always tell stories and tonight they were getting a story that was important and one they should know.
This story is about the European settlers coming to South Australia in 1836, but I’m going to tell you about my great life my family and I had before the ‘whites’ invaded.
Our territory area was mainly inland protected from the strong sea winds, rain and the sand. The inland was cold and wet so it was ideal to live inland for summer. There was plenty of firewood and materials to build large, strong huts around tree trunks. There were animal foods of different kinds that were relatively available where they lived throughout the year. In summer we could move freely around South Australia, choosing whatever area presented us the best hunting ground. But in winter we had less choice because it was so cold, dunes were cheerless in the winter. We were not protected by the strong forced gale winds, there was just no firewood to collect and most of our summer food supplies were gone or unavailable.
We were living happily and peacefully, but then the worst came, that it was until 1836 that it all stoped. Invaders came along and took it all away. These invaders were referred to as the Europeans. We never had an understanding of the Europeans, we were very different people. We had smaller groups and lacking of organisation, we suffered. The Europeans arrived with belief that they were getting land to live on and farm. The land that they thought was free had already belonged to other people. It belonged to us, the Kaurna. Not only did the Europeans take our but our homes, food supplies and sacred places of our ancestors. So with all of our precious things gone we were forced into a new way of life.
One of our significant sacred areas was Tarndanyu in the area of what is now the city of Adelaide. The choice of this site for a city meant that young Kaurna men could no longer...