Set within the coronary heart of South Australia’s Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nationwide Park, Wilpena Pound is a shocking pure amphitheatre and an award-winning public artwork area. It’s a sacred place for the Adnyamathanha folks, and as Tiana Templeman discovers, it’s the right spot to attach with Nation.
Adnyamathanha information Vince Coulthard’s father, Clem Coulthard, all the time mentioned, “How can we count on Udnyu [‘white people’, in the local language] to know us if we don’t share our tradition?” Clem was head ranger at Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nationwide Park within the Eighties. He was captivated with Nation, and when Vince grew up, he determined to observe in his father footsteps. He’s been guiding on this Land since 2018.
Our Intrepid group has come to Ikara (Wilpena Pound) to hitch him on a guided stroll that shines a lightweight on Adnyamathanha historical past, which stretches again 1000’s of years, and share tales in regards to the park’s newer previous. Studying about Nation and the tradition of this place with a Conventional Custodian is a rewarding and tangible method to assist Australia’s reconciliation journey. It’s one among three First Nations excursions included on our seven-day Intrepid Flinders Ranges Explorer journey.
The dramatic mountains and rugged peaks that make up Ikara stretch 17 kilometres throughout the russet panorama at Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nationwide Park. Collectively, they create a curve which types a pure ‘pound’ or enclosure, eight kilometres broad. Within the Adnyamathanha language, the identify Ikara means assembly place, and it continues to be a vacation spot the place folks can come collectively and share tales.
We set off with Vince, who leads us throughout his folks’s Land and in the direction of the distant assortment of farm buildings generally known as Previous Wilpena Station. White settlers had been first seen by First Nations Custodians of the Flinders Ranges within the 1840s, and so they actually made an impression.
“When the white fellas turned up, our folks thought they had been ghosts,” says Vince.
He explains that when Adnyamathanha folks died, they had been coated in white clay as a part of a standard burial ceremony. Because the Europeans made their method throughout the panorama, it appeared as if the spirits of the First Nations Custodians of Ikara had returned and had been strolling the earth.
As historical past reveals, this wasn’t the one purpose the Adnyamathanha needed to be involved in regards to the arrival of European settlers. It didn’t take lengthy for the pastoralists to say areas with easy accessibility to water for themselves and their inventory. The Adnyamathanha had been avoided these and different pure assets and retaliated by stealing sheep, one thing that didn’t go unpunished by the settlers.
Farming additionally took a toll on Adnyamathanha Land, which had been now not being managed in conventional methods. As we get nearer to Previous Wilpena Station, Vince explains it can take centuries for the realm to regenerate after being farmed.
As Australia continues working in the direction of reconciliation and strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, the variety of First Nations-run excursions on Intrepid journeys have elevated to assist this journey. Like many of those experiences, our Ikara tour consists of the historical past of the Conventional House owners and people who got here after them, and likewise appears to be like to the long run. It’s an method that sits effectively with Vince Coulthard.
“Aboriginal tradition is all about sharing and it’s in regards to the tales. What occurred must be acknowledged after which we will transfer on,” he says. “We are able to’t undo the previous. It must be acknowledged or we will’t transfer ahead.”
In 2009, the Adnyamathanha folks had been recognised because the Conventional House owners of Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges area. They’ve been collectively managing Ikara-Flinders Ranges Nationwide Park with the South Australian Authorities since 2011. In addition they personal Wilpena Pound Resort, which gives a viable method for Adnyamathanha folks to work within the space and keep on Nation.
“Aboriginal tradition is all about sharing and it’s in regards to the tales. What occurred must be acknowledged after which we will transfer on.”
Vince Coulthard
As we make our method throughout the panorama, Vince factors out hole timber that Adnyamathanha moms and infants as soon as used for shelter, and one of the best spots to seek out acacia seeds to make damper. We’re tramping within the footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson, who devoted a lot of his life to researching the area. Mawson was a geologist and lecturer on the College of Adelaide previous to changing into an Antarctic explorer. Even when he ought to have been acclimatising in preparation for upcoming expeditions in subzero temperatures, he couldn’t resist the pull of this unimaginable place.
After we attain the gathering of buildings at Previous Wilpena Station, our group settles down on a seat at a spot generally known as The Assembly Place, which can be an award-winning public artwork area. Vince explains Adnyamathanha is made up of two totally different phrases: adnya, that means rock, and mathanya, that means folks, and there are creation tales throughout us. He gestures in the direction of the encircling mountains and factors out Ngarri Mudlanha (St Mary Peak) shimmering within the distance.
Ngarri Mudlanha is the best level within the Flinders Ranges and the Adnyamathanha consider it’s the head of a large Akurra (serpent) who performed a key position within the creation story of Ikara. Late one night time, whereas everybody was at a corroboree, two mighty Akurra (serpents) ready to assault. Yurlu, the Kingfisher Man, noticed the hazard however it was too late. Solely Yurlu and Walha the Wild Turkey Man managed to flee. Nevertheless, the 2 serpents paid the last word worth for his or her grasping ambush. The Akurra had been so full they may now not transfer and died the place they lay, with their our bodies forming the partitions of the pound. Look intently while you’re out strolling, says Vince, and also you’ll see rocks that seem like imprinted with rows of large scales.
On our method again to the customer centre, turquoise mulga parrots flit via 500 year-old timber, creating splashes of color in opposition to a panorama that’s wealthy with tales and historical past. Ikara is 300 metres greater than Uluru, and arguably simply as culturally important, however none of our group realised the affect this sacred place would have on us.
That afternoon, we discover a number of the scaly rocks that Vince was speaking about and are reminded of the 2 mighty Akurra serpents. It’s superb what you’ll be able to see when your eyes – and your coronary heart, thoughts, and soul – are opened to the pure wonders round you.
Need to discover Wilpena Pound your self? Try our 7-day Flinders Ranges Explorer journey.