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The Ngarrindjeri people are the traditional custodians of the Goolwa region, including Goolwa South in South Australia. They are part of a larger cultural and linguistic group known as the Ngarrindjeri Nation, which historically inhabited the Coorong, Lower Murray River, and Lakes region.
Ku:Li-war – First Nations, First River Craft and First River Trade
The Great Southern Land was a mystery to the wider world, but the ancient people who lived here knew their country well. They walked from Africa to Asia and navigated the shallow seas to the north over 50,000 years ago during the last Ice Age. They populated Sahul, walking south along the coast to the west and east and inland following the rivers.
Some 40,000 years or 400 centuries ago, they met on the southern coast where a great river flowed across a fertile delta to the east of a lofty range. Some 10,000 years or 100 centuries ago, the ancient people witnessed the rising seas that forced them from Sahul’s coast. They were here at the end of the last Ice Age, some 6,000 years or 60 centuries ago, when Kangaroo Island separated and the Coorong formed, creating the coastline of the continent we know today as Australia.
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Ngurunderi was the great ancestral creation warrior for the River Murray. His travels and deeds chasing and catching the mighty Murray Cod Ponde shaped the river and landscape. He made the area rich and abundant. He provided the law and rules for the Ngarrindjeri people to live and look after the country.
Ngarrindjeri Nation
The complex social structure of the Ngarrindjeri
“Ku:Li-War” is Ngarrindjeri for the headland overlooking the bend or “elbow” in the river – the origin of the name Goolwa.
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The Ngarrindjeri lived in a complex social structure of 18 interconnected clans or "Laklinyeri," forming a larger tribal confederation with a governing council, the Tendi, which was unique in First Nations Australia. Each Laklinyeri consisted of several extended family groups who were bound by their spiritual beliefs to a particular area and moved in tune with the seasons and cycles of drought and flood. Substantial shelters, dome-shaped huts ‘Polgi’ were made from logs, branches, bark, reeds, and clay and in winter covered with animal skins. They were large enough to house several families. Jaralde Park was a meeting and trading place for all Laklinyeri.​
Portrates of Aborigional Inhabitants J. W. Giles, lithographerBritain 1801 – 1870
The availability of fresh water and abundant food sources enabled semi-permanent camp sites with a population density equal to Arnhem Land in northern Australia and one of the highest density hunter gather societies in the world. The population was significant, estimated at around 6,000 prior to 1800 but this was severely reduced in the 1790’s and early 1800’s by diseases which quickly spread down the river system after European contact.
Clans linked through Totems
Totems linked clans to specific animals and landscapes. Some totems were forbidden to be eaten like Nori – the pelicans. As the natural resources of a camp site were consumed movement was essential to prevent spoil and failure. Hunting and disputes over land, food, water and partnership posed risks of serious injury and death. Shortages of food and water, particularly in times of drought meant the Laklinyeri culture controlled population based on “survival of the fittest”.
The Ngarrindjeri were highly skilled in river navigation and the construction of rivercraft for fishing, hunting, accessing islands in the river and lakes, travelling between camp locations and trading. Reed Canoes were smaller and lightweight yet sturdy craft woven from river reeds used by men for spear and net fishing. Reed Rafts were a much larger craft capable of carrying family groups and used by women on the lakes to hunt for freshwater mussels. Bark Canoes were cut from large River Red Gums using stone tools and then shaped using sticks and fire. Clay and gum were used to fill cracks and animal grease was used for waterproofing. Waterlogging meant that canoes would last just a year or two.
Fires and cooking were possible on canoes and rafts by the use of damp clay under the fire. This enabled successful night fishing. Canoe Trees can be found close to roads at Currency Creek and Finnis and along creek lines.
Fishing in Bark Canoes were cut from large River Red Gums using stone tools
The Ngarrindjeri used the river and lakes for trade linking them to trade routes that traversed the continent.
Their woven goods and muntries were highly regarded with other groups along the river trading them for stone tools, grinding stones, long hardwood spears and ochre.
The establishment of the South Australian Colony in 1836, then whaling stations along Encounter Bay in 1837 followed by fishing and farming settlements in the 1840s and 1850 forced the Ngarrindjeri from their ancestral lands with many taking refuge with the Reverend George Taplin across the lakes at the Port McLeay Mission – Raukkan in 1859.
The Ngarrindjeri were semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers relying on the abundant waterways for food and travel. Their diet consisted primarily of fish, crabs, cockles, freshwater lobsters and mussels, with meat from waterbirds, kangaroo, emu, wombat, possums and reptiles along with eggs, insects and native plants such as muntries, pig face, native cherries, warrigal spinach and honey.
Cockles or “Kuti” were so abundant that middens with millions of empty shells formed. Water was drawn from freshwater soaks especially along the Coorong and carried using skulls and skins.
Fire was essential with great care taken to maintain fires when travelling. Cooking used fire and coals for smaller meals while larger meals were cooked in ground ovens using heated rocks or steamed in a shallow pit covered with seaweed or reeds.
Fishing for Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii peelii) in the Murray River, Australia. (a) Aboriginal men fish in bark canoes in the Murray River,
The abundant supply of reeds and seaweed supported complex weaving. Clothes, bags belts and shelters were made using animal skins and woven mats Baskets, bags, nets, ropes and rivercraft were used to fish, collect shellfish and hunt waterfowl. Fish Traps using stones were constructed where tidal flows allowed as well as woven fish pens to hold live fish. The Ngarrindjeri maintained a rich cultural tradition of storytelling, art and ceremonial practices tied to the land and water. Their culture was deeply embedded in the rhythms of the river, lakes and Coorong.
Today, the Ngarrindjeri people maintain a strong cultural and social presence in the Goolwa region.
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Aboriginal residents number some 500 across the Alexandrina Council Region.
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Efforts have been made to revive language, art and traditions. Ngarrindjeri people actively engage in education, tourism, and conservation projects.
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Alexandrina Council recognises and partners with the Ngarrindjeri as the custodians of the land and waters, promoting reconciliation and inclusion.
David Unaipon (1872-1967) made significant contributions to science and literature and to improvements in the conditions of Aboriginal people. He was prominent in public life as a spokesman for Aboriginal people and was often called upon to participate in royal commissions and inquiries into Aboriginal issues. His image appears on our $50 note.
Visitors can engage with the Ngarrindjeri culture through guided tours, storytelling and displays of traditional of art and craft. The Coorong and surrounding lakes remain sacred to the Ngarrindjeri people and are now a major tourist attraction.
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As waves of migration, disease and war swept across the world, the rising seas separated the Great Southern Land. This isolated the inhabitants from the Agricultural Revolution and all that followed. The rise of empires in the “Old World” and the quest for new land and wealth drove exploration across the world’s oceans to the “New World”.
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By the late 1700s, Europe was on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution and Britain in the early 1800s led the way with the dawn of the Steam Age. Stone Age tools and spears were no match for seafarers from the global trading empires of Europe.
The Aboriginal Inhabitants: from 'South Australia Illustrated', published in 1847 George French Angas
“The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future generations.”
WILLIAM FAULKNER