In 1839, an expedition led by explorer Capt Charles Sturt in South Australia came across “a native burying place” as they navigated the Gawler River north of Adelaide. In a report on the expedition, Sturt describes “a circular mound of earth surrounded by fine tall gum trees, notched in various places”.
Sturt led several expeditions in the early days of colonisation. Before his reported trip up the Gawler, he followed the paths of rivers including the Murray and the Darling, hoping to find a rumoured inland sea.
Almost 200 years later, 27 Kaurna ancestral remains were found near the Gawler River when work began on a $3bn housing development.
The remains have been exhumed and stored in a shipping container while the community and the developer work out a long-term solution.
The discovery has sparked fears and claims it was a previously unknown massacre site, while an archaeological assessment determined it was a burial place dating from before colonisation.
Either way, the disturbance of the remains has distressed the Kaurna community. While Kaurna people wanted them left in place, reburial at a new site nearby is now the most likely option – but protests against the original disturbance are ongoing.
The area, about 30km north of Adelaide, is called Buckland Park. Part of Buckland Park was renamed Riverlea Park last year as Walker Buckland Park Developments (a subsidiary of Lang Walker’s Walker Corporation) started its development.
There are plans to build 12,000 homes on 1,340 hectares over the next two decades.
Construction started in 2021 and some residents have already moved in.
In April this year, the first remains were found in a spot at Riverlea, just south of the Gawler River. Work was stopped and an exclusion area was established while the local native title group, Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation (KYAC), was given leadership over the site and access to remove and relocate the remains.
Along with the ancestral remains, there are artefacts and evidence of “an extensive camping area used repeatedly by large numbers of people”, according to the state government.
The Walker Corporation has applied for authorisation to continue development, because state law makes it an offence to “excavate land to uncover any Aboriginal site, object or ancestral remains (together, heritage) without authorisation”, to “damage, disturb or interfere with heritage without authorisations” and “to remove an Aboriginal object from the state, without authorisation”. The state government is now consulting with the community on that authorisation.
The excavated remains are still on site, in a shipping container, under the care of KYAC.
In 1839, the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register printed an excerpt from Sturt’s journey from Strange’s Creek – now Stranges Creek – about 9km east of Riverlea to the Gawler River. Sturt’s surveyor, David Lindsay, describes the trip, travelling “close to a spot where we found a native well”.
“There is also a native burying-place at this spot – a circular mound of earth surrounded by fine tall gum trees, notched in various places,” Lindsay reported.
Modified trees – where the bark has been removed for ceremonies, canoes or shields – have also been found at the Riverlea site.
The KYAC chair and Kaurna elder, Tim Agius, says observations from Sturt’s expedition show that style of burial mound with scar trees predates colonisation – although it could be a different burial mound to the one found at Riverlea.
“It goes to the fact it was a significant campsite,” he says, adding that it is now a significant historical and archaeological site.
He says that since new laws were introduced in 1988, the practice has been to relocate remains as near as practical to the original burial site. “It was the elders at the time, about 30 years ago, that made the decision to relocate ancestral remains as close as possible to their burial site where they were discovered,” he says.
“I can imagine how disappointed and upset they were at making that decision.”
Then Agius himself had to make a difficult decision to remove the Riverlea remains in order to protect them. And he hopes that the community can now come together.
“This really is a watershed moment for us. And we need to come together to talk about this and make recommendations to the state government and the minister about what should happen in the future,” he says.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, says an archaeological assessment had ruled out any massacre at the site.
“Apparently, the way that the burial has taken place is consistent with practices well before colonial times,” he says.
“But that does not change the fact that there is a degree of significance to the burial site.”
The attorney general and Aboriginal affairs minister, Kyam Maher, says it is a sad truth that ancestral remains have been and will continue to be discovered and disturbed.
“There’s been tens of thousands of years of human habitation on this continent, thousands of generations of people, almost every part of SA will have evidence of that,” he says.
“That’s why it’s so important we do all we can to preserve the heritage of the remains.”
Natasha Wanganeen, a Kaurna actor and activist, believes it was the site of a massacre. She wants the remains reburied where they were found and development stopped.
“It’s a duty of care for Aboriginal communities to look after visitors and people who travel across our lands. We don’t want to put anyone at risk by living near a sacred spot … Their spirits won’t be safe,” she says.
“We all know in our hearts that it’s probably a massacre site. We can feel it.
“If it’s a massacre site, everyone needs to know that. It would be one of the biggest in the country.”
She is organising a rally and petition to have the ancestors returned to where they were found until her group can organise their own investigation.
Ian Carter, a Kaurna man and former state director of Aboriginal affairs, also told the Advertiser newspaper that it could be a massacre site.
“We don’t bury them like that. As far as I know, we don’t have group burials like a cemetery,” he said.
The SA government will consult traditional owners, interested Aboriginal people and Aboriginal organisations on the proposed authorisation until 24 November.
Walker has committed to a memorial, a “keeping place” for objects and a resting place for the disturbed ancestral remains of the 27 Kaurna ancestors.
Eventually, Riverlea will be home to 30,000 residents.
Agius says Kaurna is the only native title group with a native title claim across a whole city, meaning building works will keep disturbing ancestral remains.
“The community are upset. This is something that’s been imposed on us because of colonisation on Kaurna land,” he says.
“Riverlea is not going to be the last. This will happen again.”
• Support and counselling for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is available at 13YARN (13 92 76) or the Aboriginal Counselling Services 0410 539 905.
