The Ngadjuri of the Mid North of South Australia
Fran Knight

The original inhabitants of this area were the Ngadjuri people. Semi nomadic, they kept a knowledge of where the water and food were plentiful enough to keep them alive. Semi permanent water was an absolute necessity and so groups of these people remained close to the water supplies at Broughton River, Nalya Creek and springs such as Appilla, Nackara and Ketchowla.

There is evidence that these areas of the Mid North were inhabited for long periods of time many thousands of years ago. Rock art at Ketchowla has been carbon dated to 20,000 years ago and paintings in the upper reaches of the Mid North are thought to be much older.

These people had close links to the Kaurna (Adelaide Plains) and Adnyamathanha (Flinders Ranges) and with many words in common met for ceremonies and trade. Orroroo is considered to be a large meeting area, as is Clare, where sometimes thousands of people met.

The Kaurna called the Ngadjuri, the peppermint gum people, because their land was delineated by the extent of this tree. Stands of this tree are now being replanted at Tarlee, and untouched areas of them can be seen between Tarlee and Kapunda along the aptly named Black Road.

Many species of animal once common in the Mid North are now gone. These would have formed much of the diet of the Ngadjuri. Bandicoot, bilby, possum, plains rat, wallaby, wombat, echidna, and so on, would have been eaten along with grasses, larvae, grain, lizards, snake, fish, fruit and honey.

Around Mannanarie can still be seen a carved tree, now fallen but evidence that these people lived here. Stone covered grave sites have been found in the Mannanarie Hills, and boxes of tools and weapons for hunting have been collected by the South Australian Museum.

When Europeans first took up land in the Mid North, they took the well watered land denying access to both animal life and Ngadjuri, forcing them to find another way to survive. The animals soon moved on or died out, but the Ngadjuri stayed to work for the new settlers. There is a great deal of evidence that the men became good sheep handlers, shearers and roustabouts, while the women took up positions in the households, looking after children or cooking.

As the new settlers became more established they no longer needed the Ngadjuri and so they became fringe dwellers, prone to disease such as typhoid, smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis and syphilis. Moved away from their home, their birth rate decimated, the few remaining people were taken to Point Pearce on York Peninsula, Quorn and Wilcannia, where they all but died out. Today a few people can recall their grandparents talking of their home in the Mid North.

If it had not been for Barney Waria, a Ngadjuri man who lived at Point Pearce, then little would be known of this group of people. He spoke to anthropologists in the 1940’s, making sure things were written down. He loved going through the South Australian Museum, pointing out the vast material from the Mid North, evidence that his people were here.

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