Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
places in the world to give women the vote, and the first state in Australia to outlaw ra-
cial and gender discrimination, legalise abortion and decriminalise gay sex.
Indigenous Adelaide & South Australia
SA offers up some great opportunities to learn about Aboriginal cultures and beliefs.
Some of the best include the indigenous-run Bookabee Tours (
Click here
)
of Adelaide
and the Flinders Ranges, Yorke Peninsula cultural tours run by Adjahdura Land (
Click
here
)
, and Adelaide's Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute (
Click here
)
. Also
in Adelaide is the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery in the South Australian Mu-
seum (
Click here
).
SA's best-known Aboriginal language is Pitjantjatjara (also known as Pitjantjara),
which is spoken throughout the Anangu-Pitjantjarjara Aboriginal Lands of northern SA,
down almost to the Great Australian Bight. The traditional language of the Adelaide area
is Kaurna. Many Kaurna-derived place names have survived around the city: Aldinga
comes from
Ngultingga,
Onkaparinga from
Ngangkiparringga,
and Noarlunga from
Nurlungga.
The Adelaide Hills region is Peramangk country.
The Coorong, in Ngarrindjeri country, is a complex series of dunes and salt pans sep-
arated from the sea by the long, thin Younghusband Peninsula. It takes its name from the
Ngarrindjeri word
kurangh,
meaning 'long neck'. According to the Ngarrindjeri, their
Dreaming ancestor, Ngurundjeri, created the Coorong and the Murray River.
The iconic Ikara (Wilpena Pound), a natural basin in Flinders Ranges National Park, is
sacred to the Adnyamathanha people, who have lived in the area for more than 15,000
years. Dreaming stories tell of two
akurra
(giant snakes) who coiled around Ikara during
an initiation ceremony, creating a whirlwind and devouring the participants. The snakes
were so full after their feast they couldn't move, and willed themselves to die, thus creat-
ing the landmark.
In 1966, SA became the first state to grant Aboriginal people title to their land. In the
early 1980s most of the land west of the Stuart Hwy and north of the railway to Perth
was transferred to Aboriginal ownership. Cultural clashes still sometimes occur,
however, exemplified by the politically and culturally divisive Hindmarsh Bridge contro-
versy in the 1990s, which pitted Aboriginal beliefs against development.
National Parks
Around 22% of SA's land area is under some form of official conservation management,
including national parks, recreation parks, conservation parks and wildlife reserves. The
Department of Environment, Water & Natural Resources
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