Introduction

I grew up in a small town named Jervois, which lies along the River Murray near Tailem Bend. This area is the land of the Ngarrindjeri people - more exclusively the Ponde people. During school - both primary and secondary - I was exposed to some cultural learning about the Ngarrindjeri people. One of the main dreamtime stories I remember being told was that of the Rainbow Serpent and how it created the River Murray. This was one of my favourite stories and I found it extremely interesting as it explored the nature of 'creation' in such a different way to what Western society tries to instil in our minds.
Even closer to home, when I was a child, there were actually ancient Aboriginal canoes and weapons found buried beneath the river bank of our swamps which we graze our dairy cattle on. I found it all very exciting and interesting at the time to know that it had been there all along and we had never noticed it before. All of the artefacts were taken away by the Government and preserved.