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Indigenous collections

Indigenous Collections + Services

  • Aboriginal
  • First Nations people
  • family history
  • Mountford-Sheard

The State Library of South Australia acknowledges and respects Aboriginal people as the state’s first people and nations, and recognises Aboriginal people as traditional custodians and occupants of South Australian land and waters.

People are advised that records will contain names and photographs of Aboriginal people who have since died, which may cause distress to their relatives; discretion should be used when accessing them.

What's inside

Explore the collection

Drawing by Lanaliginja at Ernabella school, 1940. SLSA: PRG 128/12C/1/122

Aboriginal Australia Research Guides

The State Library of South Australia holds a wide cross section of information about South Australia and its people, including military service, referendums and recognition, family history, and much more.

Right wrongs write, yes for Aborigines on May 27th. SLSA: SRG 102 box 7

Aboriginal Education Foundation of SA

The Foundation was established in 1965 with Mr Laurie Bryan as its first Secretary to improve the the quality of life of Aboriginal people, particularly children, by giving them access to kindergarten programmes and supporting initiatives for education at higher levels. The Foundation discontinued its operations in 1996 and the Library holds its records.

Aboriginal woman collecting water in a dish at Aliwanyuwanyu rockhole, Musgrave Ranges, 1940. SLSA: PRG 1218/34/1217A

Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia Oral History Project

A series of interviews with Aboriginal women from the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia (SLSA: OH 664). Recorded between November 2022 to February 2003, this collection forms part of the J. D. Somerville Oral History Collection.

Shadows of camels and people (SLSA: PRG-1218-34-80)

Mountford-Sheard Collection

A unique and significant collection of materials created by ethnologist Charles Pearcy Mountford during the 1930s to 1960s. This collection (SLSA: PRG 1218) covers a selection of Aboriginal communities from South and Central Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Charles Mountford filming on location Mann Ranges, South Australia.SLSA: PRG 1218/34/4270

Mountford-Sheard Collection Research Guide

Charles Pearcy Mountford (1890-1976) was a South Australian ethnologist and ethnographer who advanced from amateur status to become an important figure in the field of anthropology in Australia. His archival collection (SLSA: PRG 1218) contains photographs, field notes, diaries, artworks and correspondence. 

Port McLeay Aboriginal mission. SLSA: B 3804

Point McLeay Aboriginal Mission Records

Records of the Point McLeay Aboriginal Mission (SLSA: SRG 698) comprising two record books of births, baptisms, marriage and deaths, census records, vaccination lists and daily ration book.

W.A. Cawthorne, ‘Inlet’, South Australian Drawings c 1843-1879, Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW

South Australian Frontier and its Legacies (SA Frontier)

‘The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies’ website which explores the dimensions of frontier conflict in colonial South Australia. Whilst the site does not offer a comprehensive picture of South Australia’s colonial experiences of the frontier, it is intended to provide a starting point for an ongoing process of reconciliation and truth-telling.

Stone Axe Mountford-Shread collection. SLSA: PRG 1218/34/671B

Indigenous protocols, policy and usage

View the State Library's protocols, policies and conditions of use relevant to the Indigenous Collections.

AIATSIS logo

AIATSIS

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) is a world-renowned research, collections and publishing organisation. They promote knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, traditions, languages and stories, past and present.

Overview

UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register

The State Library's archival collection contains a substantial amount of unpublished South Australian material, including material that is relevant to Aboriginal people, including oral histories, including the Mountford-Sheard Collection, which was inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register. 

View the register

INDIGENOUS COLLECTION SERVICES

Access the following services by using our Ask Us service:

  • Research into the State Library's Indigenous collections.
  • Providing advice on the State Library's Indigenous collections.
  • Processing, cataloguing and indexing the State Library's Indigenous collections.
  • Raising awareness with enquirers of special access conditions to Indigenous materials.
  • Liaising with communities and enquirers requesting copies or access to the State Library's Indigenous materials.
  • Developing partnerships with the communities and like institutions.
  • Publishing and developing contextual online information on Indigenous collections.
  • Collaborating and participating in Indigenous events and programs.

PARTNERSHIPS AND DIGITAL REPATRIATION

ARA IRITITJA

We work cooperatively with Ara Irititja, the Social History Unit of the Pitjantjatjara Council, to describe and digitise images and other material relevant to the Pitjantjatjara communities of Central Australia. Access to this material is then provided through a mobile community database.

COMMUNITY DATABASES

The State Library has supplied content for a number of community-led publications, exhibitions and databases, enabling Aboriginal Communities to have access, on Country, to material of cultural significance held at the library. 

 

Image: Aboriginal children in line at Ernabella School. The children are lined up in what appears to be oldest to youngest, with their billy cans placed nearby. SLSA: PRG 1218/34/1262h