‘Difficult decision’: Aboriginal corporation supports relocating remains found at Riverlea

Kaurna leaders say they support reburying Aboriginal remains at the $3bn Riverlea housing project – but the minister will have the final say.

At least 29 Aboriginal ancestral remains found at a mass grave at the Riverlea housing project could be relocated, paving the way for 12,000 new homes north of Adelaide.

On Tuesday, Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation (KYAC) chairman and elder Tim Agius said after discussions with elders, they had come to the “difficult decision” to support a decision to relocate the remains elsewhere should there be a need to do so.

“The community’s preferred position was that the ancestors remain in their burial ground and not be removed from Riverlea,” Mr Agius said.

“However, under the circumstances and with the support of Kaurna Elders, we have made the (supportive) difficult decision to respectfully exhume the remains to ensure their protection.”

Kaurna Yerta Aboriginal Corporation chairman Tim Agius said remains located at the Riverlea housing development will be relocated. Picture: George Yankovich

Mr Agius said elders endorsed moving the remains to an unmarked grave somewhere near the discovery site, in accordance with practices in place for at least 30 years.

“The one thing the community collectively are saying is that they need to be reburied as near as possible to the burial site,” he said.

“We’ve been in negotiations with Walker Corporation to find a suitable location that is to the satisfaction of Kaurna and those negotiations are continuing.

“I understand there is agreement with Walker Corporation to put up a memorial acknowledging our ancestors, and they’re even agreeing to consider a reflection centre, a park where everyone can come and walk around be among our ancestors.”

The final decision on whether the 29 remains already dug up and if more will be exhumed and relocated, ultimately sits with the Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher.

Artist impressions of the Riverlea housing project.

On Wednesday, Mr Maher told ABC Radio Adelaide “no decision” had been made yet and there were submissions and reports still being collated from all interested parties for him to consider before he decides what to do early next year.

“Towards the start of next year, the result of all those consultations, the reports that are being put forward, will be collated into a big report for consideration, so, no decisions have been made,” he said.

On Monday, Premier Peter Malinauskas said he was open to a second, independent archaeological assessment of the remains after the first one – commissioned by Walker Corp – “ruled out” a massacre.

Protesters at the Riverlea site in Buckland Park SA at the weekend. Picture: Ben Clark

Kaurna Traditional Owners raised concerns because the way the bodies were placed was not consistent with how they typically buried their people.

However, Mr Agius repudiated calls for another inquiry, saying investigating archaeologist Neale Draper had worked with Kaurna groups for “30-plus years”.

“There are a number of accusation that are being made, and with regards that it is a massacre site, the archaeologist has sent specimens away for carbon dating,” Mr Agius said.

“The results will be another few months, but he has suggested it is a site that predates colonisation.

An artist impression of the Riverlea housing project.

“As soon as we get the results back, we will make that known to various community members, and at this stage we believe it will be determined as a pre-colonisation campsite.”

A spokesman for Walker Corporation said works were placed on hold in the two confined burial sites “as it follows the process set out in SA legislation”.

“We respectfully await further guidance from KYAC and Kaurna Yerta Elders and the state government before commenting further,” he said.

“Construction continues in all other areas of Riverlea, safely away from these halted areas.”

Kaurna elder and former Director of Aboriginal Affairs for the state government, Ian Carter, has been leading the push for a second assessment and work to be stopped.

He told The Advertiser it was not traditional practice to bury bodies in a group and it suggested either a massacre or another cause of death.

“How do you get 29 bodies put in the ground at the same time without something being the cause of all of their deaths at the same time?” he said.

“It could have been a massacre – it could have been smallpox – but we never bury them in a mass grave.

“How does he (archaeologist) know that we buried 30 people at a time?”

The Walker Corporation has also applied to extended development of the site for the next 25 years under the Aboriginal Heritage Act, which could see more remains “excavated and removed where necessary”.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kyam Maher previously told The Advertiser he would consider recommendations from all interested parties before delivering a decision early next year.

Originally published as ‘Difficult decision’: Aboriginal corporation supports relocating remains found at Riverlea