The Mudlangga to Yertabulti Track (in and around Port Adelaide, Ethelton, Semaphore, Largs Bay and Osborne) has been developed as a way of telling the stories of some of the Aboriginal people who have had a long association with the Port and surrounding areas. Some of the local story-tellers featured along the track, who have made significant contributions to the history and social wellbeing of the local community include:
Pat Waria-Read
Aunty Pat is a descendant of the Ngadjuri Clan (from the mid-north of SA)
and the daughter of Winnie Branson who became an Aboriginal activist for Aboriginal equality between 1967-71. Aunty Pat has supported and advocated for Aboriginal women in prison, has been involved in Nunga Court and a Chaplain with the Dept for Correctional Services for many years. Pat was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the NAIDOC SA Awards in 2018.
Uncle Lewis ‘Yerloburka’ O’Brien
Uncle Lewis is a Kaurna Elder who was born at the Point Pearce Mission and currently lives in Ethelton. He was recognised in 2014 with an AO in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Uncle Lewis has dedicated many years working in schools, promoting Kaurna language and culture as well as supporting Indigenous students to complete education. He served as Adjunct Research Fellow, David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research, University of South Australia and as a Visiting Elder at Flinders University.
Uncle Vincent Copley
Uncle Vince was a resident at the St Francis Boys' Home and is committed to ensuring that the history of the Home and its residents is recorded. Uncle Vince was awarded an AM in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Auntie Josie Agius
Auntie Josie was a much loved Elder within the local community and nationally. Josie is a Narrunga, Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri and Ngadjuri woman. She has worked in Aboriginal health services, at Taperoo Primary School as an Aboriginal Education Worker and also as a consultant cultural instructor in Aboriginal culture and has been a key member of Kurruru since its inception.
Auntie Josie sadly passed away in December, 2015.
Tauto Sansbury
Tauto is a Narungga man who originally came to the Port from Point Pearce in the 1950s. Tauto has fought to improve the conditions of Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system. In 2015, Tauto was the recipient of the NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award and the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights.
Josephine Judge Rigney
Josephine was born in the Port with an Aboriginal mother and an English father. Her family are from the South East approximately 17 km from the border. “We lived in Ship Street in the Port, and Mum had a house in Dale St, and we used to buy spuds (lollies) at the shop near there. The Troubridge used to come in and we'd sit and watch the sheep being herded up the ramp. On St Vincent Street there was the old pub that burnt down. Across the road from there was the CSR sugar factory. We used to pop over and jump off the jetty, we had our own little holes in their fence. That area floods every now and again and they should never have built that housing project there - it's cursed, it should have been a sacred place, they were money hungry and it will come back to bite them."
Margaret Brodie
Margaret is a daughter of Auntie Veronica Brodie, and great-great-granddaughter of Lartelare. Margaret and her sister Kathy have lived in the Port Adelaide area most of their lives. They have been very involved in the development of Lartelare, a park which was constructed to recognise the birthplace of Lartelare.
“We’d walk from Taperoo to Semaphore or the Port on the weekends, doing odd jobs just to make a bob. We’d get 10c for walking the dog or cleaning the front yard and we’d get enough for hot chips.”
Mary Williams
Mary’s family (Adams and Edwards families) were from the Port and Point Pearce. Her family moved from Point Pearce to Gawler, to the city, Salisbury, South Kilkerran and then to Taperoo. “When I grew up you could walk from the City to Taperoo. It didn't matter if it took you two days, you could get a drink, a feed, there were safe houses we could stay at. Back then most of Taperoo knew each other, black and white. As racist as it used to be, we all knew we had no choice and had to live together side by side, and that was the way Taperoo worked”.
Sharon Chester
Sharon is proud to say she was born and bred in the Port. She has ridden and broken-in horses all her life and one of the first, and at the time the only Aboriginal girl to be involved in rodeo. “Mr Enoch had cows and one horse and he always used to bring them from his property at the North Haven Shopping Centre and walk them down the back of Mersey Road to the paddocks near ICI. As a kid I always used to play around there, on the Port River. I loved the horses and the cows and I'd wait for him and he always gave me half of a chocolate sandwich. They used to hold rodeos every Good Friday at Osborne at the Osborne Western Stables. It was a fun day for everyone with BBQ and beer. At that time I was the only black girl to do rodeo."
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