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The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporarily formed grouping of several distinct Aboriginal Australian peoples of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The ethnonym Adnyamathanha was an alternative name for the Wailpi but the contemporary grouping also includes the Guyani, Jadliaura, Pilatapa, and sometimes the Barngarla peoples. The origin of the name is in the words "adnya" ("rock") and "matha" ("group" or "group of people"). Adnyamathanha is also used to refer to their traditional language, although Adnyamathanha people themselves call their language "yura ngarwala" (roughly translated as "our speech") and refer to themselves as " yura".
There is a community of Adnyamathanha people at Nepabunna, just west of the Gammon Ranges, which was established as a mission station in 1931. The Adnyamathanha people have run Nantawarrina IPA, the first Indigenous Protected Area in Australia, since 1998. In 2009, the Adnyamathanha people were recognised by the Federal Court of Australia as having native title rights over about running east from the edge of Lake Torrens, through the northern Flinders Ranges, approaching the South Australian border with New South Wales. It includes the Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park. The Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA) was formed to represent the interests of the Adnyamathanha people.
On the northern edges of the Adnyamathanha tribal lands are the Diyari lands, on the western edges are the Kokatha lands. To the south are the Barngarla (also sometimes included in the Adnyamathanya group), Nukunu, and Ngadjuri. To the east are the Malyangapa.
On 30 March 2009, the Adnyamathanha people were recognised by the Federal Court of Australia as having native title rights over about running east from the edge of Lake Torrens, through the northern Flinders Ranges, approaching the South Australian border with New South Wales. It includes the Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park.
Nantawarrina IPA, the first Indigenous Protected Area in Australia, was established in 1998, with extensive work done by Indigenous rangers to restore the land and protect the native flora and fauna since then.
In 2016, Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park was renamed from Flinders Ranges National Park in recognition of its Adnyamathanha heritage. The word ikara means "meeting place" in Adnyamathanha language, and refers in this instance to Wilpena Pound (situated within the park), a traditional meeting place of the Adnyamathanha people.
The name Adnyamathanha means "rock people", with adnya meaning "rock" and matha, a "group" or "group of people", in the Adnyamathanha language, and is a term referring to the Lakes Culture societies living in that area. They share common ancestral bonds of language and culture, they call Yura Muda. Adnyamathanha people often refer to themselves as yura, and non-Aboriginal people as udnyu.
Archaeological evidence such as and artefacts suggests that the Adnyamathanha people have inhabited the area for millennia (up to 49,000 years), according to recent finds at the Warratyi rock shelter.
The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) are known to them as the Makara, seen as a group of marsupial-like women with pouches, while the Magellanic Clouds are known as Vutha Varkla, seen as two male lawmen also known as the Vaalnapa.
Traditionally, the Adnyamathanha bear strong respect for lizards such as geckoes and . This is explained in myth as the cannibal sun goddess Bila having been defeated by the Dirawong Kudnu and Muda.
Some Adnyamathanha people retained strong links to their language and culture and would gather at the campsite and ration depot at Mount Serle Station (Atuwarapanha), a significant cultural site to speak in their languages and pass on their lore. After rations stopped, they relocated to Ram Paddock Gate (Minerawuta) during the 1920s. After the Nepabunna Mission was established by the United Aborigines Mission in 1931, most of the residents of Ram Paddock moved there. Some Nepabunna Mission residents worked at R. M. Williams's workshop nearby, where Williams developed his trademark boots and horse-riding equipment, helping to build his business in the first two years of its existence. In 2011, on the 80th anniversary of the establishment of Nepabunna, there were a few people alive who had been born when it was a mission, the eldest being Ronald Coulthard, then aged 80.
In 2011, Vince Coulthard, chair of the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA) and representative of Iga Warta, in consultation with other community members and with the help of his daughter and Uncle Gordon, used the same colours but redesigned the flag. This flag includes the star constellations of the Pleiades or Pleiades ( Artinyi), to include the women's stories, and the Saucepan ( Mirarrityi), to represent the men's stories. The sun is a common Adnyamathanha symbol that represents the coming together of the all Yura (Adnyamathanha people).
In November 2011, it was raised at Nepabunna on the 80th anniversary of its establishment. The flag was adopted by the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA).
People
The ethnonym Adnyamathanha was, according to Tindale, an alternative name for the Wailpi, but the contemporarily formed grouping also includes the Guyani (Kuyani), Jadliaura (Yardliyawara/Yadliaura), Pilatapa (Biladappa) and, according to the people themselves, the Pangkala (Barngarla or Vanggarla) peoples.
Language
Adnyamathanha is a member of the Thura-Yura language family and the only one which still has fluent native speakers. There were 262 native speakers recorded in the 2021 Australian census
Mythology and astronomy
Traditional mythology of the origins of the Adnyamathanha is told through creation stories, passed down from generation to generation. The primordial creator being of the rainbow serpent is, among them, known as akurra.
History of contact
Pastoralists from the British colonies reached Adnyamathanha lands prior to 1850. In 1851, the first colonial leases were granted for colonists to settle some of the area. There were many conflicts, because Adnyamathanha people were pushed off their land by the Europeans, who lived on established by the colonial government. In response to the loss of their land, food and water, Aboriginal people stole sheep, which in turn led to retaliatory killings. However, Adnyamathanha people soon became stockmen and housekeepers, adopting western dress and ways by the 1900s.
Records of culture
A University of Adelaide anthropological expedition travelled to Nepabunna in May 1937 led by J.B. Cleland and including Charles P. Mountford as ethnologist and photographer, botanist Thomas Harvey Johnston, virologist Frank Fenner and others. Mountford was especially interested in the Adnyamathanha people's art, mythology and rituals. He came back later in the year and many times thereafter, recording Adnyamathanha language and culture. The Mountford-Sheard Collection in the State Library of South Australia (inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World programme in 2008) has a large collection of handwritten diary, photographs, sound recording and film recordings gathered by him from and about the people.
Exhibition
An exhibition entitled "Unsettled: Colonial Ruin in the Flinders Ranges", described as "a critical examination of settler-colonial nostalgia in the Flinders Ranges, within an artistic context", was mounted by the State Library of South Australia in partnership with the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association in March–May 2017. It included many photographs taken by Mountford on the 1937 and subsequent trips to the Flinders. The photos were complemented by story-telling by descendants of the people represented, including Terrence Coulthard (see Notable people, below).
Flag
A flag designed to represent the Adnyamathanha peoples was developed over time. It was initially begun by children at Nepabunna School, who chose the colours blue (representing the ngiiarri, or sky) and brown (symbolising the yarta, or land). Gordon Coulthard added the word "Adnyamathanha" and he made a single flag to celebrate the granting of native title in 2009.
Notable people
See also
Sources
Further reading
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