Kauwa-Yarlungga (Myponga Beach)

Abstract

Kauwa-yerlongga (Kauwa-yarlungga in KWP New Spelling 2010), meaning ‘place of cliffs and sea’, is probably the correct interpretation of the Kaurna name for the vicinity of the Myponga river estuary at Myponga Beach, with its wetland and cliffs, on Sections 687, 688 and 683 (Hundred of Myponga). It was recorded as “Coweyalunga” in 1850, “Cowiealunga” in the 1870s, and “Coweelunga” in 1887. The last of these (incorrectly suggesting a four-syllable word rather than five) was probably a mis-transcription of the lost original record by surveyors in 1840, who must have obtained it from their Kaurna-speaking guides. Kauwayarlungga has been neglected in the literature of place-names and Aboriginal history; but it seems to have been a significant destination in its own right, a focus for travel routes from the north, south and east. It was used for sheltered camping, fishing (with a rocky shore for shellfish), for corroborees, and (it is said) had a burial site. It was one of the campsites used by Aboriginal people in their spring and summer movement up the Gulf coast following the fish runs (bream, mullet, salmon and mulloway).