- published: 30 Jan 2015
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The Kaurna people are a group of Indigenous Australians whose traditional lands include the area around the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. Pronunciation of the word "Kaurna" varies slightly by the background and origin of the speaker; the most common is English (non-rhotic) /ˈɡɑːnə/, sometimes /ˈɡaʊnə/, native [ɡ̊auɲa] or, less often, [kʰana].
Kaurna culture and language was almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the European settlement of South Australia in 1836. However, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture.
The early settlers of South Australia referred to the various Kaurna bands of the Adelaide Plains and Fleurieu Peninsula as being separate tribes such as "the Adelaide tribe" (the Kouwandilla band), "the Noarlunga tribe" (the Ngurlonnga band) and the Willunga tribe (the Willangga band) etc. The name Kaurna was not widely used for the language group until popularised by Norman B. Tindale in the 1920s. It most likely derives from the Ramindjeri or Ngarrindjeri word kornar meaning "men" or "people". "Uncle" Lewis O'Brien, a Kaurna Elder during the 1990s, suggested that a more appropriate name for his people might be Meyunna, from the local word for "people", meyu. However, "Kaurna" has been almost universally adopted by Kaurna and non-indigenous people alike to refer to the tribe of the Adelaide plains.