OUR STORY

The People of The Rocks

We are the Adnyamathanha (ad-nya-mut-na) people. “Adnya” means “rock” and “matha” means “group” or “group of people”. Our people used to roam throughout this country from the Northern Flinders South to Port Augusta and as far east as Broken Hill. When pastoral leases were established our people were forced to camp together and travel less.

Five tribes then came together – the Kuyani, Wailpi, Yadliaura,
Pilatapa and Pangkala.

We arrived at the current site of Nepabunna in the 1930’s. Prior to this we were at two other sites, one near Damper Hill and the other Ram Paddock. There were a few hundred people at that time. It was necessary to travel around because of pastoralists and the lack of a reliable water supply. Many of us including our fathers and uncles, worked on station properties and were very skilled at this work.