The left-hand (northern) set of four printed signs near the upper car park for the SeaLink Terminal, relates the narrative of the Aboriginal ancestor Ngurunderi. The outer two have art or a map, while the inner two have the narrative as follows:
Ngarrindjeri Creation Time
Links with the Land
"Whenever an Abroginal person looks at the landscape, he or she always sees much more than just the physical features. There is a deep awareness of the presence of the Creation Ancestors. All around are signs of their presence, their tracks, places where they had dug out valleys, split rock or disturbed the ground in their passing. Sometimes too their bodies or those of their enemies are perceived in rocks, boulders and trees. Their actual spirits are also there, not dangerous or unfriendly, living on in the world they made.
"It is possible to communicate with Ancestor Spirits. This creates a bond of enormous strength. Overall, the earth is a 'Mother' in a real sense.
"This interpretation of the landscape confers responsibilites of the highest orfer. In many lonely places in Australia today there are quiet, sacred places that regularly visited and cared for by the Aboriginal man or woman who is guardian of that place.
"Their responsibilities were usually the basis for deciding the territory occupied by each group. They also form of course, a basis for land rights claims today.
"For Aboriginal people the Creation Time is intensely personal."
"The Creation Time is still vitally important to today's Abroginal People. It gives them a social and spiritual base and links them to a cultural heritage of more than 40,000 years."
The next sign, to the right, is titled, and reads as follows:
Ngurunderi Creator Ancestor Narrative'
"In the Creation Time of the Ngarrindjeri people, Ngurunderi is the shaper of land, laws and creatures. He could travel through time and space along rivers and hills … across lakes and seas … His mind and spirit sometimes took a human shape and he travelled as a man. The Ngurunderi Narrative beigins where the wide River Darling joins the River Murray.
"Ngurunderi was looking for his two wives who had run away after a quarrel. One day when he was fishing from his bark canoe, Ngurunderi saw Pondi, the giant Murray Cod. He tried to spear the huge fish, but Pondi quickly swam away downstream. When Pondi reached the Murray, which was then just a small creek, he had nowhere to swim. So he went ploughing and crashing through the bush, making the creek into the mighty River Murray. Ngurunderi chased Pondi south into the land of the Ngarrindjeri. On and on Pondi ploughed, making bends and cliffs with his mighty tail. One day when near Murray Bridge, Ngurunderi threw his spear at him. He missed and the spear changed into Long Island. Near Tailem Bend Ngurunderi speared Pondi, who raised his huge spines and crashed on so fast that made a very long straight stretch in the river, until finally he escaped into Lake Alexandrina.
"Ngurunderi rested near Wellington and sent a smoke signal to Raukkan where his brother-in-law, Nepele, lived. He gave Nepele the power to spear the fish, telling him to spear it as it went by. From Raukkan Nepele saw Pondi at the place where the fresh and salt water meet. He pushed his canoe there and killed Pondi with his spear. Nepele put Pondi on a sandbar and waited for Ngurunderi. Ngurunderi met him there and they both cut Pondi up into many pieces. Ngurunderi threw each piece into the water and told it to become a new fish:
'Nund Thukeri - you Silver Bream.'
'Nund Pilarki - you Callop.'
'Nund Kunmuri - you Mullet.'
'Nund Mulawi - you Mulloway.'
"Ngurunderi made all the fresh water and salt water fish of the Ngarrindjeri. To the last piece, he said:
'Nund Pondi - you keep being the Murray Cod.'
----
"Ngurunderi left Raukkan and took his canoe eastward around the lake. He left the lake and made two huts where Mount Misery is and rested in his camp. Ngurunderi went to the lake for food. One time he saw some people in the reeds there. They were afraid of him and tried to hide, rustling the reeds as they moved. Ngurunderi said: 'Pul'djur'wurl'ul'urun' and they were changed into the small birds that live in the reeds. One night, he smelled Baney Bream cooking. This fish was forbidden to women and he knew it was from the camp of his two wives, who had run away long ago. This made him angry and he prepared to leave camp and find them. His two huts became two hills. Standing on them he placed his canoe into the dark night sky, where it became the Milky Way. The women heard Ngurunderi coming and became very frightened. They quickly made a raft of reeds and grass trees and escaped across Lake Albert. When they landed, the raft changed back into living reeds and grass trees, and the women fled along the Coorong. Ngurunderi followed them south along The Coorong, until he met a man called Parampari, close to Kingston, Ngurunderi asked:
"'Eund'aunun'nuken'napanu?' - 'Have you seen my two wives walking?'
"But Parampari was an evil sorverer, who started to quarrel and fight with him. He tried to kill Ngurunderi with his magic and weapons, but Ngurunderi just laughed. The two powerful men fought with spears, clubs and magic forces. Ngurunderi finally killed Parampari with his club. Then he burnt the body to destroy its power, and it changed into huge granite boulders. During the battle Ngurunderi's wives slipped past and fled back along the coast towards Encounter Bay. Ngurunderi followed their footprints north through the sand hills of the Coorong. He camped along the way, digging fresh water soaks into the sand hills to drink from. Having lost the women's trail, he crossed the mouth of the River Murray and started to walk around Encounter Bay. At Middleton he threw a large tree into the sea. He changed the tree into weeds so fish would be trapped in a channel. At Port Elliot his fishing net became the stained rocks of Pullen Island. And at Victor Harbor he made islands by throwing spears into the sea.
"Ngurunderi walked to Granite Island, where he made a shade shelter from boulders and rested. One day he heard a loud splashing and laughing from the direction of Kings Head, and he knew it was his wives. Ngurunderi threw his club to the ground and chased after then. As the club hit the ground, it became the headland called The Bluff at Victor Harbor.
"The women ran from the water and fled along the coast towards Cape Jervis. Ngurunderi called out to them to stop, but they ran on through the shallow water towards Kangaroo Island. Standing high on the cliffs, he called out in a voice of thunder for the seas to rise: 'Pink'ul'un'um'pranukum'.
"The sea came in, wave upon wave, driving the women from their path. They fought the water until they could swim no more and drowned. Their bodies became The Pages Islands. Ngurunderi crossed to Kangaroo Island, where he made a huge swamp oak tree to rest under. But the sound of the wind through the tree caused him to mourn his wives. He then knew it was time to leave this world. He went to the far end of the island and dived deep into the sea to prepare his spirit. Then Ngurunderi left the water and entered into the spirit world.
"He can be seen there today as a bright star in The Milky Way."
[From the sign titled: 'Ngurunderi Creator Ancestor Narrative']
Address: Car Park of SeaLink Terminal, Main South Road, Cape Jervis, SA
Visited: 1223, Tuesday, 29 May, 2018