Aboriginal Way

The South Australian Aboriginal Land & Sea Ranger Conference was held at the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre in Hahndorf on March 23-26, bringing ranger groups and relevant bodies from across the country together for a constructive dialogue, workshops and exchange of vital knowledge.

Different days of the conference had specific focus areas including ranger networks and success stories, training and education, and future planning and strategic co-design.

Several ranger groups gave detailed presentations on the work they do on Country, including Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation, Wardang Island IPA (Aboriginal Lands Trust), Ngarrindjeri LPCA, Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Rangers, Far West Coast Rangers, and Yarluwar Ruwe.

This episode is part two of a series of interviews from the forum and feature yarns with Burrandies'  Thomas Lovett and Terry Hartman and a conversation with APY Ranger Adrian Dodd.

The South Australian Aboriginal Land & Sea RangerConference was held at the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre in Hahndorf on March 23-26, bringing ranger groups and relevant bodies from across the country together for a constructive dialogue, workshops and exchange of vitalknowledge.

Different days of the conference had specific focus areasincluding ranger networks and success stories, training and education, and future planning and strategic co-design.

Several ranger groups gave detailed presentations on thework they do on Country, including Burrandies Aboriginal Corporation, Wardang Island IPA (Aboriginal Lands Trust), Ngarrindjeri LPCA , Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Rangers, Far West Coast Rangers, and Yarluwar Ruwe.

In this episode we speak with FWC ranger Stefan Mazaroskiand Kimberley Land Council Land and Sea Unit Manager Daniel Oades about their experiences at the conference and in managing their Country generally.

Arabana, Mudbura, Gurindji and Warlpiri photographer Colleen Strangways has collected her life’s work (so far) into a remarkable series of vivid imagery on display at the Adelaide Town Hall – accompanied by a striking photography exhibit (UV Songlines: Illuminating Ancestral Roots in the nearby Paul Kelly Lane.

One of Colleen’s signature flairs in photography is the inclusion of iconography from the lands her subjects belong to.

This process is something that inspired her initial passion for photography, reciting memories of looking back on images of her family and the landscape of her Country as sources of inspiration.

Having Country incorporated into the portrait photographs allows Colleen to quickly engage her audiences with key details relating to their lives and ancestry.

Altogether, Wathlu Anthunda brings together 38 striking portraits of First Nations people from 30 communities, created across the course of Ms Strangways 15-year career.

AW sat down with Ms Strangways and Adnyamathanha and Narungga exhibit contributor, Zane Weetra, to discuss the creative process behind this collection of works.

The Hindmarsh Island bridge dispute told by the Ngarrindjeri women who lived it.

For much of the 1990s, a group of Ngarrindjeri womenprotested the building of a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island, claiming the island held sacred significance to them.

For years, they were subjected to intense scrutiny from themedia, from politicians and even through a Royal Commission, with their voices challenged, dismissed and questioned.

Kumarangk, a new major project from Country Arts SA, tells the story of the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy from the women who were there, giving them a voice to share the story from their perspective, together, for the very first time.

Kumarangk starts with a visual arts exhibition at @AdelaideContemporary Experimental (ACE) Gallery on Kaurna Land, followed by a documentary later this year, then a performance in Goolwa in 2027.

🎧Aboriginal Way spoke with Dominic Guerrera, Country Arts SA's Ngarrindjeri/Kaurna creative/curator, who came up with the idea.

The Hindmarsh Island bridge dispute told by the Ngarrindjeri women who lived it.

For much of the 1990s, a group of Ngarrindjeri women protested the building of a bridge from Goolwa to Hindmarsh Island, claiming the island held sacred significance to them.

For years they were subjected to intense scrutiny from the media, from politicians and even through a Royal Commission, with their voices challenged, dismissed and questioned.

Kumarangk, a new major project from Country Arts SA, tells the story of the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy from the women who were there, giving them a voice to share the story from their perspective, together, for the very first time.

Kumarangk starts with a visual arts exhibition at @Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE) Gallery on Kaurna Land, followed by a documentary later this year, then a performance in Goolwa in 2027.

🎧Aboriginal Way spoke with Dominic Guerrera, Country Arts SA's Ngarrindjeri/Kaurna creative/curator, who came up with the idea.

Walmajarri elder and acclaimed singer-songwriter AuntieOlive Knight (Kankawa Nagarra) will bring a lifetime of storytelling, cultural knowledge and environmental advocacy to WOMADelaide this March, performing onKaurna Country as part of the festival’s diverse 2026 program.

Kankawa Nagarra’s music blends blues, gospel, country andWalmajarri language into songs shaped by ceremony, lived experience and an enduring connection to Country.

For Nagarra, the blues is not a borrowed form but one thatmirrors musical traditions she has known since childhood.

Knight grew up living a traditional nomadic life with herclan in the Kimberley before being relocated onto a pastoral lease.

Language sits at the core of Knight’s work, singing inEnglish, Kimberly Kriol and Walmajarri, a language she has spent decades helping to document and preserve.

Performing language on stage, particularly within blues andgospel frameworks, creates a powerful point of connection for diverse audiences.

Witiyana Marika, respected Yolngu elder and founding member of pioneering North East Arnhem Land group Yothu Yindi, is preparing to celebrate a remarkable milestone as the group returns to the WOMADelaide stage for the first time in 33 years.

The band will mark 35 years since their landmark album ‘Tribal Voice’, featuring iconic anthems such as ‘Treaty’ and ‘Djapana (Sunset Dreaming), in what promises to be an emotionally charged performance bridging cultures and generations.

The band's unique fusion of traditional Yolngu culture with contemporary music, alongside balanda (non-Aboriginal or European) musicians has fundamentally changed the landscape of Australian culture over nearly four decades.

Speaking from Naarm/Melbourne on December 12, the day of a special Treaty celebration concert at John Cain Arena on Wurundjeri country, Mr Marika reflected on the extraordinary journey that began when Yothu Yindi was formed in 1985.

First Nations groups from sea country areas across South Australia recently came together at a forum to discuss Aboriginal engagement in Commonwealth marine parks.

The forum, led by Parks Australia with support from SA Native Title Services, marked the first time all coastal First Nations groups in the state came together with both state and Commonwealth government representatives to discuss marine park management.

The workshop was an important first step in resetting Aboriginal engagement in marine parks with further dialogue and actions in the pipeline for 2026.

You'll hear from representatives from:

• Parks Australia
• Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation
• Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation
• Nukunu Wapma Thura Aboriginal Corporation

All interviewed in the last episode of Aboriginal Way for 2025.

The Department for Environment and Water, in collaboration with SANTS, recently held a two-day co-design workshop in Port Augusta to help finalise the South Australian Framework to Advance First Nations’ Water Interests.
The workshop was held over two days at the Standpipe Golf Motor Inn, where participants came together to continue shaping the draft framework. 
Building on earlier engagement rounds held in February - April 2025 and July - August 2025, the workshop brought together First Nations representatives and stakeholders to refine the draft framework.

During the workshop we interviewed Far West Coast Traditional Lands Association chair and Wirangu board member Jack Johncock, who spoke about long-standing losses of water rights and the need for meaningful change.

 We also spoke with Wangkangurru Elder Raylene Crombie, who reflected on the damage to spiritual water places near Birdsville, and Deborah Naylan who emphasised water sovereignty, cultural authority, and protecting storylines for future generations.

Wirangu and Nauo Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC) and Firesticks Alliance conducted a week-long series of burns at a former farming station at Talia on the Eyre Peninsula.

The project site is the locale of Talia Station, a 2,000 hectare property on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula, a site left decimated by sheep grazing since Wirangu and Nauo peoples were displaced in the 1850s.

Early in the project Land Life and project partner Cassinia Environmental engaged WNAC to identify best practices for getting Traditional Owners back on Country and assisting in the rejuvenation of the areas adversely affected by this grazing and land degradation.

On the week of the burns, Matthew Johncock commenced his new role as a Wirangu and Nauo ranger, providing the perfect opportunity to hit the ground running and utilise the revitalised practice of cultural burning.

AW spoke to Mr Johncock and Nauo director Jodi Miller about the cultural burns and the resulting benefits for their Country and community .