MEDIA RELEASES
Media Release on behalf of Jeffrey Newchurch and Tim Campbell
Return of Kaurna Old People - A Special Cultural Occasion- Reburial
Major Kaurna traditional activity at Kingston Park on 1st August 2019
From Jeffrey Newchurch, Kaurna Elder and Traditional Owner
For many years the ancestral remains of Aboriginal Kaurna old people and neighbouring Nations were collected by museums and universities across the world for the purpose of scientific research.
There currently appears to be ancestral remains of over 800 Kaurna old peoples held at the South Australian Museum's bulk store.
I have been working for many years on the return of Kaurna old people and one day I hope all ancestral remains of the Kaurna old people will be returned to Country.
The remains of eleven Kaurna old people have been located and will be returned to Kaurna land on 1 August 2019 at Kingston Park, south of Adelaide.
The remains of these Kaurna old people were held in the United Kingdom and South Australian Institutions. The Federal Government has coordinated the return of these old people from overseas to Canberra.
About 25 Kaurna people will collect and escort these old people from Canberra to Adelaide on 31 July 2019.
It is humbling to be able to lay to rest these Kaurna old people to Country, as close as possible to the
location from where they were originally taken.
The City of Holdfast Bay, the South Australian Museum, the South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet, the City of Adelaide, the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board and LendLease have sponsored the reburial of the old people at the Kingston Park.
The burial will be near the Tjilbruke Spring at Kingston Park-a sacred area for the Kaurna people. I hope that the repatriation and reburial of our Kaurna old people will continue strongly in future.
The official part of the reburial occasion will be at 10am on 1 August 2019.
Contact:
Jeffrey Newchurch 0458 973 692
GENERAL ATTENDANCE IS PERMITTED
Media Release