ABSTRACT
The Kaurna people, owners/custodians of the Adelaide Plains, were pushed aside and removed from their country in the mid-nineteenth century, almost without trace. The city of Adelaide was a European construct. Its Indigenous past was ignored, forgotten, unrecognized and unknown. Over the past few decades, a Kaurna presence is increasingly felt within the city. This chapter investigates the Kaurna linguistic landscape of Adelaide and the emotional reaction of Adelaideans to this changing cityscape. For some decades now, the Kaurna take pride of place at many high-profile events such as the opening of the Festival of Adelaide, Fringe Parade and WOMADelaide. From a point of almost total obscurity, Kaurna language increasingly plays a role, albeit largely symbolic and emblematic, in the life of the city.
