Members of the Kaurna community gathered to rebury the remains of Ancestors repatriated to Country on Tuesday, in an emotional ceremony at Wangayarta, the Kaurna Memorial Park in Smithfield.
The Ancestral remains were previously held at the South Australian Museum after being taken in the late 1800s and early 1900s from Norwood, St Peters, Walkerville, Campbelltown and other areas across eastern Adelaide.
Attended by Elders and Kaurna people, it is the third reburial of ancestral remains in the area.
Tim Agius, Chair of Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation (KYAC), said the event marked the end of an "unacceptable" wrong.
"Prior to today, our Ancestors have been resting in shelves in the museum for almost 100 years," he said.
In that time, Ancestors were also sent overseas for scientific research – this was unacceptable.
“These reburials [are] a watershed moment in Kaurna history to discuss what happens in the future to our Ancestors with the state government and industry.”
Burial place designed with repatriation in mind
Kaurna community at the reburial ceremony for the repatriated Ancestors. Credit: Sia Duff
The resting place at Wangayarta is surrounded by a garden of native plants and landscaping that respects and acknowledges the Ancestors.
It was prepared during the park's co-design process, with Uncle Moogy Summer spreading soil from parts of Kaurna Country across the area.
He said it was a small act to ensure they were buried on the soil of their Country, or a way to bring the "land that the Ancestors walked across" back to them.
Wangayarta was a world-first pilot project and collaboration between KYAC, the South Australian Museum, Adelaide Cemeteries and the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation.
South Australian Museum Chief Executive Dr David Gaimster said Wangayarta is an "integral part" of their work to face up to the "legacies of our institution’s past practices, and of colonisation in South Australia."
"As we return to this important place, the museum extends its gratitude to the Kaurna community for the leadership and strength it has shown in making Wangayarta an international example for repatriation and healing," he said.
The Wangayarta is now being referred to other communities and with funding from the History Trust of Australia's South Australian History Fund, KYAC will create cultural resources for truth-telling on the site.
