Aboriginal Way

Forty years on, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 remains unprecedented in Australian lands rights history. Initially called the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act, it gave traditional owners inalienable freehold title to their land in the far north-west of South Australia. Members of APY determine how the 103,000 square kilometres of land is managed by an executive board,...

A virtual reality film is helping people access Country from hundreds of kilometres away. The film is called Arabana Songlines and launched during Tarnanthi, the festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, at a venue called The Lab. Director Colleen Strangways and videographer Vivian Wong spoke to Aboriginal Way about the production of Arabana Songlines and the power of virtual reality...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way, brought to you by SA Native Title Services. Narungga and Kaurna man, Les Wanganeen won Kinship Carer of the Year at the inaugural SA Child Protection Awards after five years of caring for his grandson. Les shared his story with Aboriginal Way and has advice for prospective kinship carers.

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way, brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. Only 80 years ago, the black-footed rock-wallaby, or warru, were swarming in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, but in 2007 they were South Australia's most endangered mammal. In 2021, a successful warru conservation program received an $8.3 million funding boost from the National Indigeno...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way, brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. Spring is the perfect time of year for Nature Festival with over 200 events happening in South Australia from September 25 to October 4. In this episode, Nature Festival director Ryan Hubbard shares the 2021 program including events led by the traditional owners of the land now known as South Australia. Check...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. This week we speak to State Records Director Simon Froude, and State Library of South Australia Director Geoff Strempel, about a new Aboriginal Reference Group that will inform both institutions. People who identify as Aboriginal people and care about issues relating to libraries, archives, and records managem...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. This week we speak to South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network convenor, Scott Wilson, about a new plan to Close the Gap in South Australia. The South Australian Closing the Gap Implementation Plan is supported by the South Australian Government and promises to make significant imp...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. This week we speak to Southern Cultural Immersion about their latest endeavour running the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre at Warriparinga. Southern Cultural Immersion is owned and run by Kaurna man Corey Turner, who joins us on the show with cultural director Tobias Turner, and events and marketing director Eve...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. This week we speak to Yuwallarai woman Kirstie Parker, a guest curator of the 2021 Adelaide Festival of Ideas. Kirstie shares why Australia needs more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices in media, a field she has worked in for over 25 years. Follow us on social media for native title news and First Na...

Welcome back to Aboriginal Way brought to you by South Australian Native Title Services. This week we speak to Kalkadunga didgeridoo player and composer, William Barton, ahead of his performance with the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) at Illuminate Festival. William Barton & the ASQ will perform at Adelaide Town Hall on Wednesday, July 21 with tickets available here: https://www.illuminateadelaid...

Aboriginal Way is proud to share an episode from the award-winning series Southern Deadly Yarns season 2 by Neporendi Aboriginal Forum Inc. and Onkaparinga Libraries. This episode is about Blackfulla Bookclub, an online celebration of First Nations storytelling that has amassed over 35,000 followers on Instagram. Run by Gumbaynggirr and Barkandji woman Merinda Dutton and Wiradjuri and Wailwan woma...

During Reconciliation Week 2021, Aboriginal Way attended the first AIATSIS Summit at the Adelaide Convention Centre. This was a combination of the National Native Title Conference and Indigenous Research Conference usually held separately. Delegates from around the country attended the summit, where academics, legal experts, and community sectors shared the challenges regarding research and native...

Hear about Brian Butler's lifelong devotion to healing the harm caused by the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Brian's new book 'Sorry and Beyond: Healing the Stolen Generations' exposes the Australian government's policies which aimed to destroy the identity of Indigenous children by taking away their language, culture, and connection to country. The...

Hear about Brian Butler's lifelong devotion to healing the harm caused by the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Brian's new book 'Sorry and Beyond: Healing the Stolen Generations' exposes the Australian government's policies which aimed to destroy the identity of Indigenous children by taking away their language, culture, and connection to country. The...

Tuthangga (Park 17) Adelaide was the site of the first cultural burn in an Australian capital city and the first on Kaurna Yerta in 200 years. The Kaurna community, City of Adelaide, Green Adelaide and the Department for Environment and Water have been working together to make this cultural burn a reality with assistance from Indigenous Fire Practitioner Victor Steffenson. Cultural burns not only...

SA Native Title Services is the publisher of Aboriginal Way - we assist Aboriginal people in South Australia to gain recognition and to protect their native title rights and interests. While on a recent work trip, we spoke to Mick Starkey, our Cultural Heritage and Land Management Senior Project Officer. His Kokatha people received native title in 2014 over approximately 140,000 km2 of their land...

Shane Mankitya Cook is a Wulli Wulli and Guwa descendant from Queensland. He was adopted by the Kaurna community in Adelaide and given the name Mankitya, which translates to "the scarred one". Over a coffee, near his studio at Black Diamond Tattoo, we talk about his life as an Aboriginal artist, athlete, and youth mentor.

Mali Isabel is an Arabana and Kokatha artist making a name for herself on Kaurna land. The 21-year-old was a successful applicant of a year-long residency at Carclew where she is developing her skills in painting, photography and ceramics. Mali bases her work on equality by using every colour of the rainbow and has big plans for her art empire. Instagram: @malisabelart

It's South Australia's turn to see the Legacy: Reflections on Mabo exhibition which has been showcased at art galleries across the country since 2019. Eddie Mabo spent a decade seeking recognition of his people's ownership of Mer Island in the Torres Strait, and on 3 June 1992 the High Court of Australia agreed by rejecting terra nullius (land belonging to no-one). Co-curated by Gail Mabo, Dr Jona...

Gina Rings is an award winning choreographer and dancer with over 30 years' experience in the arts. Hailing from the west coast of South Australia, Gin Rings is a Kokatha woman who knew she wanted to be on stage before she was out of nappies. Speaking of nappies, she is the artistic director for an upcoming show at the 2021 DreamBIG Children's festival, called Our Corka bubs. Our Corka Bubs is the...

Tika Tirka means to stay and learn in Kaurna language, and that's exactly what Indigenous students from regional communities are able to do when they move into the student accommodation. Based in Adelaide's CBD, Tika Tirka provides students aged 18 to 26 with an affordable, safe and culturally appropriate home away from home while they study in Adelaide. We speak with State Manager for Aboriginal...

South Australian of the Year, Tanya Hosch, says racism is the nation's unfinished business and talking about it will make us better Australians. Tanya is the first Indigenous person and second woman to join the AFL executive - her leadership has made the game more inclusive for women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and gender diverse players. In our interview, Tanya shares her person...

Warndu is an Indigenous owned company that makes products with wild harvested Australian native ingredients. Founders Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan say native ingredients have a place in every Australian pantry, and recipes from their cookbook, Warndu Mai, may inspire you to get started. Warndu means "good" in Adnyamathanha and reflects the brand's aim of providing nutritious food that has...

WOMADelaide is just around the corner and this year the festival has announced a new music development initiative for emerging First Nations artists. It's in collaboration with the City of Playford's music venue and industry training hub Northern Sound System with support from Balya Productions.

This week, we're bringing you the second part in a two-part series about the newly published book, Loving Country, by Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou. Bruce and Vicky recently recorded this interview with Adelaide-based poet and broadcaster, Mike Ladd, for local bookshop Matilda Books. Thanks to them and to Hardie Grant Publishing for allowing us to play this insightful interview. If you missed...