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The Adnyamathanha (Pronounced: ) are a contemporarily formed grouping of several distinct Aboriginal Australian peoples of the northern , . The Adnyamathanha was an alternative name for the but the contemporary grouping also includes the , , and sometimes the 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 , just west of the , which was established as a in 1931. The Adnyamathanha people have run IPA, the first Indigenous Protected Area in Australia, since 1998.


Country
According to David Horton's map "Aboriginal Australia" (largely based on that of ), the Adnyamathanha lands lie on the west banks of and extend south and west over the northern Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park and northwards over the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park. One Adnyamathanha account describes their lands as "from the Northern Flinders south to and as far east as ". estimated the ancestral country to cover approximately .

On the northern edges of the Adnyamathanha tribal lands are the lands, on the western edges are the lands. To the south are the (also sometimes included in the Adnyamathanya group), , and . To the east are the .

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 , through the northern Flinders Ranges, approaching the South Australian border with New South Wales.

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 (situated within the park), a traditional meeting place of the Adnyamathanha people.


People
The ethnonym Adnyamathanha was, according to Tindale, an alternative name for the , but the contemporarily formed grouping also includes the (Kuyani), (Yardliyawara), , and, according to the people themselves, the (Barngarla) peoples.

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".


Language
Adnyamathanha is a member of the Thura-Yura language family and the only one which still has fluent native speakers.


Mythology and astronomy
Traditional mythology of the origins of the Adnyamathanha is told through , passed down from generation to generation. The primordial of the is, among them, known as akurra.

The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) are known to them as the Makara, seen as a group of -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 Kudnu and Muda.

(2025). 9780520248472, University of California Press. .


History of contact
Pastoralist 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. One recent account claims this led to 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. Contrary to this account, Adnyamathanha people soon became stockmen and housekeepers and Adnyamathanha people adopted western dress and ways by the 1900s.

Some Adnyamathanha retained strong links to their language and culture and would gather at the campsite and 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.


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 and , botanist Thomas Harvey Johnston, virologist 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 's Memory of the World programme in 2008) has a large collection of handwritten , photographs, 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).


Coulthard design flag
In 2011, a flag was created by Vince Coulthard and has been mistakenly claimed to be the flag of the Adnyamathanha peoples but was only adopted by the Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association.Bordeleau, André G. (2014). Flags of the Night Sky: When Astronomy Meets National Pride Springer Science & Business Media. Pp.92-93. The flag was raised at Nepabunna on the 80th anniversary of its establishment.


Notable people
  • , four-time AFL footballer, stated he is an Adnyamathanha and man.
  • Rebecca Richards, the first Aboriginal Rhodes Scholar, is an Adnyamathanha and woman.
  • is an artist who, in 2006, had two pieces acquired by the National Museum of Australia of Adnyamathanha Dreaming Storylines and who, in 2016, was awarded the Peter Rawlinson award for her outstanding contribution to protection of country by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
  • Juanella McKenzie, artist and daughter of Regina McKenzie, had two works (containing similar storylines subject matter) acquired by the National Museum of Australia in 2008, and in early 2019 at the age of 29, Juanella was acquired into the National Museum of Scotland with a bark painting she did using traditional methods depicting women's business. Arrarru Mathari Artu Mathanha National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 29 July 2019. She won an Achievement award from in 2019, a category of the Gili (pronounced kill-ee) Awards which celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal students, as well as the accomplishments of TAFE NSW employees and innovative programs that have empowered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Juanella McKenzie shines at TAFE NSW Gili Awards TAFE NSW. Retrieved 29 July 2019. She won Country Arts SA’s 2020 Breaking Ground visual arts development award, and her work Yurndu (Sun) which uses the traditional technique of weaving feathers, was selected as a finalist for the Ramsay Art Prize at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2021.
  • Terrence and Josephine Coulthard, authors of the first Adnyamathanha/English bilingual dictionary, published in November 2020. The family runs the Iga Warta enterprise, near Nepabunna.

  • AM (née Coulthard; 1933 – 15 April 2023) was an Australian cricketer and hockey player. She was also a nurse in regional South Australia. Thomas is known for being the first Indigenous woman to represent Australia in any sport as well as her distinguished service to the Australian Indigenous community.


See also
  • List of Indigenous Australian group names
  • Nepabunna, South Australia
  • Adnyamathanha language


Notes

Citations

Sources


Further reading

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