Tjilbruke

The Tjilbruke Dreaming pre-dates European contact, probably arising when the "Adelaide plains tribe", the Kaurna, settled the area at least 2,000 years BP (as evidenced by archaeological finds at Hallett Cove, where Kaurna campsites succeeded those of the Kartan people of Kangaroo Island, who had been there tens of thousands of years earlier). The Tjilbruke story became part of the southern Kaurna Dreaming.). Tjilbruke was renowned as a "great hunter and firemaker", and a hero of the Kaurna. He also played a role in helping to protect the animals and the territory of the Kaurna, while at the same time having respect towards neighbouring peoples. It was part of his and Kaurna way of life to value all life, whether animal or human. ==Variant spellings and versions==

In about 1840, anthropologist Ronald Berndt recorded the spellings "Tjirbuk" or "Tjirbuki" from Ngarrindjeri man Albert Karlowan, as the name of a small wetland. Anthropologist Norman Tindale of the South Australian Museum recorded the spelling as Tjirbruki, but Tjilbruke is the commonly used spelling today. Since the early 1980s the Williams family, of the Mullawirra and Mulla mai/Kudnarto clans, have been senior custodians of the Tjilbruke story, and Karl Winda Telfer has collaborated with Gavin Malone to share the story. Milerum, also known as Clarence Long, has also been a contributor. The Tjilbruke story is part of a bigger and more complex story known as the Munaintya Dreaming, that has been passed down through oral tradition through the years. ==Tjilbruke Dreaming story==

The tale of Tjilbruke's journey down the east coast of Wongga Erlo/Gulf St Vincent is the best known of all Kaurna Dreaming stories, and has become a symbol of renewal of the Kaurna culture, although it was first recorded from Ngarrindjeri sources by Tindale and later Ronald and Catherine Berndt. It was recorded by Tindale over a period of many years up to 1964, but it was not until 1987 that he published the most complete version hitherto published, as The Wanderings of Tjirbruki: a tale of the Kaurna People of Adelaide. Tjilbruke picked up the body and carried it firstly to Tulukudangga/Tulukudank. Here some versions of the story diverge slightly; one says that he wept at this point and his tears created this spring, From Tulukudangga, Tjilbruke carried Kulultuwi's body all the way down the eastern side of Gulf St Vincent and onto and down the west coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. • Kareildung (Hallett Cove) • Tainbarang (Port Noarlunga) • Potartang (Red Ochre Cove, near Moana Beach) • Ruwarunga (Port Willunga) • Witawali (Sellicks Beach) • Kongaratinga (near Wirrina Cove, or Yankalilla) He arrived at a cave (perki) at Rapid Bay, near Cape Jervis, and then emerged from underground at Wateira nengal (Mount Hayfield) and created yellow ochre. He walked on to Lonkowar (The Bluff/Rosetta Head, in Ramindjeri country), near Victor Harbor, where he killed a grey currawong, rubbed its fat onto his body and tied its feathers onto his arms, before transforming himself into a glossy ibis (or other wading bird; in some sources, a blue crane) as his spirit left his body. His body became the pyrite outcrop at Brukunga. Saddened by these events Tjilbruke decided he no longer wished to live as a man. His spirit became a bird, the Tjilbruke (Glossy Ibis), and his body became a martowalan (memorial) in the form of the baruke (iron pyrites) outcrop at Barrukungga, the place of hidden fire (Brukunga - north of Nairne in the Adelaide Hills). Tjilbruke was a master at fire-making. ==Creation of the Tjilbruke Dreaming Track (1986–2006)==

The Tjilbruke Monuments Committee was formed by Robert Edwards of the South Australian Museum (SAM), sculptor John Dowie and staff of the Sunday Mail in 1971. It was largely due to the efforts of Edwards and other non-Aboriginal people that drove the early promotion of Kaurna cultural tourism. A public appeal helped to fund the marking of the trail by plaques and sculptures, to pay homage to the Kaurna culture and to attract and educate tourists. In 1972 John Dowie created the sculpture known as the Tjilbruke Monument at Kingston Park, within the City of Holdfast Bay. – site of the second spring • 4 Red Ochre Cove/Karkungga – site of the third spring • 5 Port Willunga/Wirruwarrungga, Esplanade – site of the fourth spring • 6 Sellicks Beach/Witawodli, Esplanade/Francis Street – site of the fifth spring • District Council of Yankalilla • 7 Carrickalinga Head/Karragarlangga, foreshore • 8 Wirrina Cove Resort/Kongaratinga, entrance forecourt – site of the sixth spring • 9 Rapid Bay/Patpangga, foreshore • 10 Cape Jervis/Parawerangk, lookout car park In 2009, a walkway was created to provide better access to Tulukudangga Spring at Kingston Park, with new interpretative signage. In the current City of Marion Reconciliation Plan, it is planned to "Collaborate with neighbouring Councils to promote the local Kaurna Tjilbruke Dreaming Tracks" in June 2022. ==The Tjilbruki Gateway (1997)==

The Tjilbruki Gateway is a modern art installation installed by the City of Marion at Warriparinga ("windy place by the river" official opening in October 1997 was attended by the Governor General of Australia, William Deane, Lowitja O'Donoghue, and several Kaurna representatives, and celebrated with traditional ceremony and dance. ==Warriparinga (2001)==

A federal government-funded reconciliation project in partnership with the City of Marion and the Kaurna community (Dixon and Williams clans) worked together to create a visitor and education centre for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to come together and reconcile their differences in the now metropolitan suburb of Marion, South Australia at a site known as site at Warriparinga. This site at Bedford Park within the grounds of Warriparinga wetland and Sturt River, a traditional ceremonial camp site for Kaurna people. Opened in 2001, ==Other public commemorations of Tjilbruke==

The Tjilbruke Dreaming is referred to in eleven sites around Adelaide city centre. The first might be the ibis and Aboriginal man represented in the Three Rivers Fountain, sculpted by John Dowie and first unveiled in 1963 in Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga. In 1972, John Dowie created a monument commemorating Tjilbruke. It was commissioned by the local newspaper, The Sunday Mail, in conjunction with the South Australia Museum. There is a plaque at Mt Lofty Summit with information about Tjilbruke. artist Darryl Pfitzner "Mo" Milika, the outdoor art installation Yerrakartarta, meaning "at random" or "without design", was created with the assistance of several other artists including Kaurna/Ngarrindjeri artist Muriel van der Byl , ceramicists Jo Fraser, Stephen Bowers, and Jo Crawford from 1993 to 1994 on the forecourt of the Hyatt, now Intercontinental Hotel, on North Terrace in Adelaide. It was at the time "the largest Australian commission for an Aboriginal public artwork", and represents the history of the land through the forms of animals forms cut into the pavement, and, on the wall surrounding the area, a huge ceramic mural depicting the Tjillbruke Dreaming story. Other commemorations include: • 1990s: Tjilbruke Dreaming Mural, Brompton Primary School • 1997: Cultural Path Signal Box Park, Rosewater • 1998: Tjilbruke Dreaming Mural, O'Sullivan Beach Primary School • 2006: Warriparinga Walk Mural, under the Southern Expressway bridge at Warriparinga, Bedford Park • 2002: Kaurna meyunna, Kaurna yerta tampendi – "Recognising Kaurna people and Kaurna land", Adelaide Festival Centre, with a carved stone to represent the springs • 2007: Towilla Yerta Reserve, Port Willunga – pavement pattern includes a tear shape, and there is interpretive signage referring to the Dreaming • 2009: Glow / Taltaityai, Walter Morris Drive, Port Adelaide, with representations of ibis and emus ==Footnotes==