Return to country

Kaurna Nation in partnership with the City of Holdfast Bay will hold a three day Repatriation Ceremony at the Kingston Park Coastal Reserve to lay to rest several Old Peoples remains which have been returned for reburial to country from the Natural History Museum, United Kingdom and the South Australian Museum.

The ceremony and reburial will be located at the southern end of Kingston Coastal Reserve and Council have also obtained permission for a small group of the Kaurna community to camp onsite and keep a ceremonial fire burning for the three days.

The Kaurna Nation invites you as a local resident to attend the cultural events and the repatriation ceremony which will be held on the Wednesday and Thursday.

MEET AND GREET
Wednesday 31 July, 3pm – 4pm

OFFICIAL REPATRIATION CEREMONY
Thursday 1 August, 10am – 12noon

COMMUNITY CULTURAL EVENT
Thursday 1 August, 2pm – 4pm

PRIVATE SORRY DAY FOR KAURNA NATION COMMUNITY
Friday 2 August, 8am – 4pm

The City of Holdfast Bay acknowledges Kaurna people as the traditional owners and custodians of this land. We respect their spiritual relationship with country that has developed over thousands of years, and the cultural heritage and beliefs that remain important to Kaurna People today.

The Kaurna People are the original people of Adelaide and the Adelaide Plains, whose country stretches from Crystal Brook in the north to Cape Jervis in the south. The coastal plains between Glenelg and Kingston Park provided a hospitable summer camp environment with rolling sand dunes, freshwater lagoons and natural springs for the Kaurna people, where food and water was plentiful.

The area of Tulukutangga, Kingston Park is of great cultural importance and spiritual significance to the Kaurna people and to the wider Aboriginal population as it is one of the Tjilbruke sites. For thousands of years the permanent freshwater spring has been bubbling away in the reserve and once formed a freshwater coastal lagoon. The sacred spring site is part of the extensive Tjilbruke Dreaming Story and a place of reflection and mourning. Tjilbruke is an important Dreaming ancestor to Kaurna people and the Tjilbruke spring site along with the Dreaming Story remains sacred to the Kaurna people today.

The Repatriation Ceremony and reburial of the Kaurna Old People back to Tulukutangga will hold great cultural significance for the traditional owners as a majority of the remains are of people from the local area.
For more information about Kaurna Heritage and Culture please visit the website.

Local Residents Pleas Note

• A 25km/h reduced speed limit will apply along Strickland Road and Burnham Road during the
• event times.
• Traffic controllers will be onsite to direct traffic along Strickland Road, Burnham Road and the
• carpark between Kingston Park Coastal Reserve and the caravan Park during the events.
• Community event signage will be placed along Strickland Road and Burnham Road, Kingston Park
• during events.
• There will be minimal sound amplification throughout the events.
• Two marquees will be set up on the Kingston Park Coastal Reserve over the three days.

The event will be conducted within Council and Emergency Services guidelines.  For all enquiries, please contact Council on 8229 9999.  The City of Holdfast Bay thanks you for your understanding and support. Together with the Kaurna Nation we invite and encourage you and your families to come along to the events.

Please check the City of Holdfast Bay website and social media for the latest details, as some details may change.

Letter to residents can be downloaded here