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TjilbrukePrint Page 
The stone monument commemorates the Tjilbruki dreaming and the Kaurna Aborigines.
Robert Edwards, curator of Anthropology at the South Australian Museum, suggested that the Tjilbruki dreaming - one of the few stories of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains concerning the formation of the local area to have survived - should be recorded so the visitors could read the legend. A committee was formed including Bill Reschke, a reporter for the Sunday Mail which called for public subscriptions and collected just under $1000.
A number of local businesses and governmental authorities helped in the construction of the monument, 15 feet high and composed of 5 large gneiss stones, placed in such a way as to represent the head, body and haunches of Tjilbruke with another stone lying across the stone knees to represent the nephew.
Location
| Address: | Strickland Road, Kingston Park, 5049 |
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| State: | SA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -35.038986 Long: 138.517106 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Monument |
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| Monument Theme: | Culture |
| Sub-Theme: | Indigenous |
| Artist: | John Dowie |
| Link: | http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-… |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Sunday 24th September, 1972 |
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This landmark is a reminder of the Kaurna Aborigines of the Adelaide Plains. It represents the creator hero Tjilbruke with the body of his nephew Kulultuwi who was slain for killing an emu against tribal law. From the spring on the beach below, Tjilbruke carried his nephew in mourning along the coast to Cape Jervis where he displayed the body to the Spirits Of The Dead on Kangaroo Island.At each of his camps on the way his tears became the springs and water-holes of the Kaurna coastal hunting grounds. The body of Kulultuwi was later lodged in a cave near Rapid Bay.
Unveiled by His Excellency the Governor of South Australia Sir Mark Oliphant, K.B.E, on 24th September 1972.
This monument was raised by public subscription under the sponsorship of the South Australian Museum, the "Sunday Mail" and the Aboriginal community of this State.
Sculptor John Dowie.
