Acknowledgement of the Kaurna People and Their Land at Significant University Events

1. Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners at University Events

Procedures

1. Wording of Acknowledgement

Overview

The Adelaide Plains of South Australia are home to the Kaurna Aboriginal people. The Kaurna people lived on this land for many thousands of years and were made up of independent groups living within their own lands but who came together for trade, social, ceremonial and religious reasons. They lived in a narrow corridor along the eastern shore of Gulf St Vincent: Cape Jervis to Port Wakefield; inland to near Crystal Brook, Snowtown, Blyth, Hoyleton, Hamley Bridge, Clarendon, Gawler, and Myponga; from the east side of the Hummock Range to Red Hill. Inland the Jultiwira or stringy bark forests of the Mount Lofty Ranges marked their boundary.

The University of Adelaide Reconciliation Statement includes an acknowledgement that the Kaurna (pronounced "garna") people are the original custodians of the Adelaide Plains and the land on which the University of Adelaide's campuses at North Terrace, Waite, Thebarton and Roseworthy are built.

Scope and Application

The acknowledgement is to be used in all spoken introductions and is to be reproduced in written transcripts of proceedings, where these are produced. In respect of Council events, it is to be used at Graduation ceremonies and other major Council events, with the designation of Council events to be a responsibility of the Council Secretary.

Where a welcome to Kaurna land by a representative of the Kaurna people is incorporated in a ceremony, it precedes this acknowledgement.

Policy Principles

1. Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners at University Events

a) As part of the process of reconciliation, it has been agreed that significant events at the University of Adelaide should feature a formal acknowledgement of the land and its traditional owners.

b) These events would include, though not necessarily be restricted to, staff orientation functions, conferences and seminars hosted or co-hosted by the University, and significant international visits, in addition to any Council events approved by Council.

Procedures

1. Wording of Acknowledgement

Responsibility: Event organiser

a) Two forms of wording, one to be spoken and the other to appear in printed records, have been approved for use at these functions:

1. Spoken Greetings

"I wish to acknowledge the Kaurna people, the original custodians of the Adelaide Plains and the land on which the University of Adelaide's campuses at North Terrace, Waite, Thebarton and Roseworthy are built."

2. Written Greetings

"The University wishes to acknowledge the Kaurna people, the original custodians of the Adelaide Plains and the land on which the University of Adelaide's campuses at North Terrace, Waite, Thebarton and Roseworthy are built."

Please use the following URL instead of linking to individual documents:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/670/