Nukunu facts for kids
The Nukunu are an Aboriginal Australian people from South Australia. They traditionally lived around the Spencer Gulf area. After Europeans settled in the area, cities like Port Pirie and Port Augusta were built on their land.
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What's in a Name?
The Ngaiawang people from the Lower Murray area and the Kaurna people from Adelaide had their own ways of saying "Nukunu." They used words like nokunno and nokuna. These words meant a special, mythical figure who roamed at night.
Nukunu Language
The Nukunu language is very similar to the Ngadjuri language, with about 90% of their words being the same. A linguist named Luise Hercus grouped Nukunu and Ngadjuri together. They are part of a larger group of languages called Thura-Yura languages.
Nukunu Country
According to Norman Tindale, a researcher, the Nukunu people's traditional land covered about 2,200 square miles (5,700 square kilometers). This land was on the eastern side of Spencer Gulf. It stretched from just north of the Broughton River and Crystal Brook up to Port Augusta. Their land also went east towards Melrose, Mount Remarkable, Gladstone, Quorn, and included Baroota.
Native Title Rights
In 2019, the Nukunu people received native title rights over Port Pirie and parts of the Flinders Ranges. This means their traditional ownership of the land was legally recognized. On February 3, 2022, after a long 28-year discussion about their land boundaries, they were also granted native title over a large area east of Port Augusta. This decision was made by the Federal Court of Australia. Only one of the original claimants, elder Lindsay Thomas, was still alive to see this important moment. This new area is next to land granted to the Barngarla people in 2021.
Nukunu Social Life
A. P. Elkin found that the Nukunu people had a special social system called a moiety system. This system was based on the mother's family line. It involved two main groups for marriage, called the Mathari and the Kararru. This system was similar to those used by the Barngarla, Adnyamathanha, and Wailpi peoples.
Nukunu Culture and Stories
The Nukunu land was filled with sacred sites. These are places that are very important for their spiritual beliefs and stories. Their land was also the starting point for the longest songline recorded in Australia, called the Urumbula songline.
A songline is like a map and a story combined, passed down through generations. This particular songline begins at a large tree near what is now the Port Augusta Hospital. This tree is also seen as a symbol of the Milky Way galaxy. The songline stretches north all the way to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The stories in this songline are about the journeys of the western quoll, a native animal. Even the Arerrnte people, who live in the central desert, remember parts of these ancient stories that happened far south, in Nukunu lands.
History of European Contact
Europeans began settling in the Nukunu area around 1849. It's believed that before this, the Nukunu population had already been greatly reduced by the spread of smallpox from the Murray River about 20 years earlier. The changes made to the land for farming sheep and growing wheat made life very difficult for the Nukunu people.
In the 1850s, Peter Ferguson and William Younghusband took over a large area of land, about 560 square miles (1,450 square kilometers), for their sheep and cattle. In 1852, Ferguson pursued seven Nukunu people, believing they had taken some sheep. They were later released when no one came forward to press charges. In 1854, after some cattle were taken, Ferguson and his workers were involved in a conflict at Crystal Brook where some local Aboriginal people lost their lives. By 1880, a writer named J. C. Valentine reported that only eight Nukunu people had survived these difficult times. He believed many had died from a lung illness.
The loss of their traditional lands for farming led to the Nukunu people being forced off their country. Many died from the late 1840s onwards. Small groups of Nukunu found safety in camps around places like Orroroo, Melrose, Wilmington, Stirling North, and Baroota. Some Nukunu managed to stay connected to their lands by remaining at Port Germein, the Baroota reserve, and Port Augusta. As their communities were broken up, they began to marry people from other Aboriginal groups, including Narungga, Barngarla, and Wirangu peoples. However, they always kept a strong sense of their Nukunu identity.
Other Names for Nukunu
Some Nukunu Words
- kutnyu (whiteman/ghost)
- ngami/ngangkayi (mother, Milky Way)
- nhantu (western grey kangaroo)
- nyilka (dog); katli (dog, wild or tame); wilka (dog, dingo)
- yartli (father)
Notable Nukunu People
- Jared Thomas, an author, academic, and museum curator.
