Today the Kaurna Wangayarta Smithfield Memorial Park commences with the first repatriations of Kaurna Aboriginal ancestral remains held by the State Government in the South Australian Museum. The remains will be put to rest on Country in a Kaurna led reburial ceremony in a Kaurna designed Memorial Park, the first of its kind in the world.

The Kaurna community will bring ancestors back to a very special place on Country where they will be remembered and protected in perpetuity. The pilot project is a collaboration between Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation (KYAC), South Australian Museum, Adelaide Cemeteries and Department of Premier and Cabinet Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation.

Jeffrey Newchurch, Chair of KYAC said, “Our ancestors laid in a dark room, boxed, and it is only now that we begin to understand and address yesterday. As Smithfield becomes a reality, we can begin to re-land and rest those of our old peoples; so, we can heal together.”

Funded by the State Government, the initial amount of $300,000 has funded the co-design process with the Kaurna community, community consultation and the bulk of the construction works.

Adelaide Cemeteries has dedicated two hectares of land at the Memorial Park to Kaurna reburials, funded the initial construction of earthworks and mulches and supported the ceremony.

“I am very proud that we are today able to lay to rest respectfully and with dignity the remains of Kaurna ancestors that were previously held away from the Country that means so much to their people and culture,” Premier Marshall said.

“This world-leading pilot is the first phase of an outstanding project that will have a profound effect on the lives of many, many people, and I thank and congratulate everyone involved for their work.”

Support for Kaurna led archival research was provided by the University of Adelaide and the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure, Trade, Regional Development and Communications. The Commonwealth department has also supported the reburial preparations and ceremony.

The South Australian Museum is the custodian of approximately 4,500 Aboriginal ancestral remains and is actively working with Aboriginal communities all over Australia to return all the old people to Country in community led respectful ways. The Kaurna pilot project is an exemplar of what could be achieved with other Aboriginal communities in the future.

The Kaurna community has been on an extraordinary journey over the last two and half years to create Wangayarta, where they will rebury some of their ancestors who were disturbed by the development of the Greater Adelaide Area. Wangayarta memorialises the challenge, fortitude, and generosity of Kaurna People in sharing this repatriation with everyone, so that together we learn our history and share the truth.

Image: Uncle Jeffrey, Aunty Madge, Anna Russo (SA Museum) and Uncle Moogy