Nepabunna, South Australia

The land upon which Nepabunna is situation lies within the traditional lands of the Adnyamathanha people. Nepabunna Mission was established in 1931 by the United Aborigines Mission, created on of land Jim Page and Fred Eaton were instrumental in the creation of the mission, R. M. Williams had become a missionary with the UAM in 1927, and he started a workshop nearby to develop his business making riding equipment and his trademark boots, employing not only "Dollar Mick" Smith, an Aboriginal man originally from Lyndhurst who taught Williams leatherwork skills, but also at least eight mission residents, between 1932 and 1934. The mission passed into state government control in 1973, Charles Mountford A University of Adelaide anthropological expedition travelled to Nepabunna in May 1937 led by J.B. Cleland, which included Charles P. Mountford as ethnologist and photographer, as well as botanist Thomas Harvey Johnston, virologist Frank Fenner, and others. Mountford was especially interested in the Adnyamathanha people's art, mythology and rituals. He came back later in the year and many times thereafter, recording Adnyamathanha language and culture. The Mountford-Sheard Collection in the State Library of South Australia shows that he had intended to write a book about them, but this was never realised. However the library has a large collection of handwritten journals, photographs, sound and film recordings gathered by him from and about the people. ==Governance==

The LGA, established in 1998, is managed by Nepabunna Community Inc., under an ALT lease with an expiry date of 2081. The council provides housing maintenance and general municipal services as well as organising cultural tours and education and an annual gymkhana and family day. Nantawarrina The Nipabanha Community Aboriginal Corporation runs the Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) over land known as Nantawarrina, once a pastoral station. It was the first IPA established in Australia, in 1998. In 1982 On 1 August 1998 the area, which lies adjacent to the southern boundary of the Gammon Ranges National Park, was formally proclaimed, as the "First Indigenous Protected Area in South Australia, Australia and internationally". They also provide educational and cultural tours and grow bushfoods, as a destination for those interested in sustainable tourism. The North Flinders Soil Conservation Board, National Parks and Wildlife Service (South Australia), Primary Industries and Resources SA and Save the Bush have also supported the project. Bush Heritage Australia works with the rangers to help monitor the flora and fauna of the IPA. Iga Warta Iga Warta is a cultural tourism enterprise, run independently by Terrence Coulthard and his family, about in size. Iga Warta means "native orange", named by 19th-century English botanist John Lindley as Capparis mitchelii. ==Population and culture==

In 2011, there were only about 30 permanent residents at Nepabunna, but the older people were encouraging younger ones to return and learn about their culture. Older adults were engaging in and teaching traditional ceremonies such as the smoking ceremony, skills such as the creation of boomerangs by woodcarving, identifying and cooking bush tucker in traditional ways, and they were passing on the dreamtime stories of the Adnyamathanha people. but this figure had grown to 66 by the 2016 Census. ==Access and facilities==

The community, also spelt Nipapanha, is located just west of the Gammon Ranges. Access is via the main Copley to Balcanoona road. There is a school, Nepabunna Aboriginal School, a church, Nepabunna Community Church, and a cemetery. ==Notes and references==