Aboriginal Way

For many Australians getting a driver’s licence is often seen as a rite of passage - a first taste of independence and adulthood.   But in some of South Australia’s most isolated Aboriginal communities, it has historically been far more complicated than simply booking a test and taking driving lessons.  For years, barriers including distance, language, access to identification documents, limited i...

A collaborative team of modern scientists and Ngarrindjeripeople with traditional knowledge have been working together on the Younghusband Peninsula soaks, which have sustained human and animal life for generations. Some of those soaks still remain today, although many have disappeared, prompting the research project to better understand what has changed across the landscape. Led by the Coorong Lo...

Over the past 18 months, Aboriginal leaders have engaged ina co-design process in efforts to guide the South Australian Framework to Advance First Nations Water Interests and deliver beneficial advice on water management for their Country. During a workshop held on Barngarla Country at Central Ovalin Port Augusta, representatives from PBCs approved a draft framework which will now be submitted to...

The South Australian Aboriginal Land & Sea Ranger Conference was held at the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre in Hahndorf on March 23-26, bringing ranger groups and relevant bodies from across the country together for a constructive dialogue, workshops and exchange of vital knowledge. Different days of the conference had specific focus areas including ranger networks and success stories, train...

The South Australian Aboriginal Land & Sea RangerConference was held at the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre in Hahndorf on March 23-26, bringing ranger groups and relevant bodies from across the country together for a constructive dialogue, workshops and exchange of vitalknowledge. Different days of the conference had specific focus areasincluding ranger networks and success stories, training...

Arabana, Mudbura, Gurindji and Warlpiri photographer Colleen Strangways has collected her life’s work (so far) into a remarkable series of vivid imagery on display at the Adelaide Town Hall – accompanied by a striking photography exhibit (UV Songlines: Illuminating Ancestral Roots in the nearby Paul Kelly Lane. One of Colleen’s signature flairs in photography is the inclusion of iconography from t...

The Hindmarsh Island bridge dispute told by the Ngarrindjeri women who lived it. For much of the 1990s, a group of Ngarrindjeri womenprotested the building of a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island, claiming the island held sacred significance to them. For years, they were subjected to intense scrutiny from themedia, from politicians and even through a Royal Commission, with their voices challen...

Walmajarri elder and acclaimed singer-songwriter AuntieOlive Knight (Kankawa Nagarra) will bring a lifetime of storytelling, cultural knowledge and environmental advocacy to WOMADelaide this March, performing onKaurna Country as part of the festival’s diverse 2026 program. Kankawa Nagarra’s music blends blues, gospel, country andWalmajarri language into songs shaped by ceremony, lived experience a...

Witiyana Marika, respected Yolngu elder and founding member of pioneering North East Arnhem Land group Yothu Yindi, is preparing to celebrate a remarkable milestone as the group returns to the WOMADelaide stage for the first time in 33 years. The band will mark 35 years since their landmark album ‘Tribal Voice’, featuring iconic anthems such as ‘Treaty’ and ‘Djapana (Sunset Dreaming), in what prom...

First Nations groups from sea country areas across South Australia recently came together at a forum to discuss Aboriginal engagement in Commonwealth marine parks. The forum, led by Parks Australia with support from SA Native Title Services, marked the first time all coastal First Nations groups in the state came together with both state and Commonwealth government representatives to discuss marin...

The Department for Environment and Water, in collaboration with SANTS, recently held a two-day co-design workshop in Port Augusta to help finalise the South Australian Framework to Advance First Nations’ Water Interests. The workshop was held over two days at the Standpipe Golf Motor Inn, where participants came together to continue shaping the draft framework.  Building on earlier engagement roun...

Wirangu and Nauo Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC) and Firesticks Alliance conducted a week-long series of burns at a former farming station at Talia on the Eyre Peninsula. The project site is the locale of Talia Station, a 2,000 hectare property on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula, a site left decimated by sheep grazing since Wirangu and Nauo peoples were displaced in the 1850s. Early in the pr...

Nauo Fest – a celebration of Nauo community, culture and native title – was held at Coffin Bay on Saturday, 15 November 2025. Nauo people and the wider community danced the night away during incredible performances from Electric Fields, the Warren Milera Band and Tony Minnecon, with Elaine Crombie MC. Proudly presented by Nauo Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and supported by SA Native Title Services...

On Friday 24 October, First Nations of the South East (FNSE) and Ngarrindjeri peoples came together at 42 Mile Crossing in Coorong National Park - where the Federal Court of Australia formally recognised both groups as native title holders over a shared area in South Australia’s south-east. This important determination covers land from the southern tip of the Coorong National Park, stretching east...

On Tuesday 21 October, the Kaurna community came together (along with friends and allies), for the fourth and final reburial ceremony of their Ancestors at Wangayarta. The southern mound, one of four reburial mounds at Wangayarta, was created for the reburial of Kaurna Ancestors disturbed from southern areas of Kaurna Country over the last century. Wangayarta is a memorial/reburial park designed b...

“Sick to my stomach. There have been far too many situations where this has happened and our feelings, our connections and our thoughts have never been considered.” Chair of the Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation, Mitzi Nam, speaks out over the planned redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course at Pirtawardli (meaning "brush tail possum home") to host the high-profile LIV Golf tour...

If you’ve ever wanted to find out more about native title – or even more about virtual reality – this episode is for you! Step onto Country as Traditional Owners tell you stories andguide you through their land and waters, all from within the foyer of the South Australian Museum. That’s the premise of Country, Culture, People , a newnative title display and VR experience by South Australian Native...

In this episode, we speak with Glenn Chisholm about the vital work of River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) rangers in the Riverland. Cultural heritage protection is at the heart of their work, with a special focus on protecting ancestral burial sites using both traditional knowledge and modern scientific methods. Glenn envisions state-wide ranger gatherings where teams can share...

Yitpi Yartapuultiku, the soul of Port Adelaide, recently opened to the public at an event attended by around 10,000 people. Nearly 30 years in the making, the cultural centre is led and mostly funded by the Port Adelaide Enfield Council. Aboriginal Way spoke with Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis O'Brien and Aboriginal Community Lead Rodney Welch onsite about the importance of the new centre.

In this episode, Aboriginal Way speaks with the South Australian Museum's Aboriginal Heritage and Repatriation Manager, Anna Russo. Learn more about the museum's updated repatriation process, the different communities that have been involved and the importance of repatriation in reconnecting Aboriginal people with their heritage. You can read the accompanying story in the Autumn 2025 edition of Ab...

Groups of young Aboriginal people are learning more about Country by heading out to remote nature reserves for 5-day camps through the Nature Foundation’s Kids on Country junior ranger program.  Traditional Owners mentor high school students as they engage in practical on-Country studies in conservation and land management through a SACE-accredited course, which also involves classroom study and o...

The preservation of the culturally significant Koonalda Cave in South Australia’s Far West Coast (FWC) region will be bolstered by the installation of new security cameras and the implementation of a comprehensive’ management plan. In 2022, the National Heritage listed cave was broken into and vandalised by unknown culprits, with the installation of these cameras a direct response to this incident...

During her childhood, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG was told that she would never amount to anything. She went on to be described as “the greatest Aboriginal leader of the modern era.”  Dr O’Donoghue, a Yankunytjatjara woman, passed away peacefully on Kaurna Country last year at the age of 91, and her life and legacy are soon to be commemorated with an exhibition in her honour.  LOWITJA – A Lif...

On Tuesday March 28 a sod turning ceremony was held to launch construction of the long-awaited Purrkanaitya Elders Village at Warriparinga/Bedford Park. Purrkanaitya is a Kaurna word meaning "for all Elders", with the facility set to deliver 40 modern and culturally appropriate homes near the Sturt River. The project is slated to take around 14 months, with the facility offering Elders t...

State Records of South Australia was the country's first service of its kind when it was established more than 100 years ago in 1919.   State Records SA has an Aboriginal Reference Group and specific Aboriginal access services, which include Aboriginal access officers.   These services can help you find your Aboriginal family history through culturally sensitive archival records. They can spec...