Collaborative approach for new k aurna display

A kaurna man with a unique combination of skills and experience has collaborated with the National Trust branch at Tea Tree Gully to create a new display.

When the Tea Tree Gully Heritage Museum decided to commission a permanent display showcasing the stories and culture of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains, it had a very clear focus. The project brief asked for Kaurna history to be interpreted by a Kaurna person, so their true story could be told, read and acknowledged.

After consulting with Kaurna Elders, it was agreed the museum team would work with James Tylor, a Kaurna man with experience as a researcher, historian and writer. James trained and worked as a carpenter in Australia and Denmark. He also studied visual arts at the South Australian School of Arts and Tasmanian School of Art.

All of these skill sets were put to use in creating the display, which incorporates his storytelling, photography and hand-crafted objects. “James is based in Canberra so many phone calls and emails took place,” branch chair Gill Starks said of the experience. “What an educational, inspiring, passionate journey he took us on as we worked our way through information, text and images!”

James used traditional materials and techniques to make the objects, which include spears, yuku (coolamon), tantu

(a kangaroo skin bag), clubs, a broad shield, fire stick and digging stick.

The exhibition also features information about the yarta (land), warra (language), mairna (plants) and pardu (animals) of Kaurna land. It explains the traditional five seasons of the Kaurna calendar, providing information about the main foods available in each season and where they might be found, as well as discussing traditional seasonal migration patterns.

A section on history presents the story of the establishment and development of the colony of South Australia from the Kaurna perspective. This part of the display provides local perspectives on national narratives such as Stolen Generations and the 1967 Referendum, when Australians voted in favour of including Aboriginal people in the census. Launched in March, the display was designed by Richard Browning, with funding from the History Trust of South Australia’s MaC program.

The National Trust of South Australia acknowledges and respects Aboriginal peoples as the State's first peoples and nations, and recognises Aboriginal peoples as traditional owners and occupants of land and waters in South Australia. Further, that their spiritual, social, cultural and economic practices come from their traditional lands and waters, that they maintain their cultural and heritage beliefs, languages and laws which are of ongoing importance, and that they have made and continue to make a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the state.

The Tea Tree Gully Heritage Museum is open to the public on the 3rd Sunday of every month, from 11 am to 4 pm. For more information visit www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/tea-tree-gullyheritage-museum/