Navigating Native Title Since 2008

In July 2018, SANTS celebrates a decade of working with Aboriginal Nations towards native title recognition and sustainable Aboriginal Nations. Native title in South Australia was previously managed by the Native Title Unit of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement and in July 2008 SANTS became an independent organisation.We thank Anangu artist Elizabeth Close for this beautiful artwork created to commemorate our 10th Anniversary. It is called “Ngayalu Ngura”, “My Country, My Home”.She explains the story of the work:The key concept this artwork embodies is connection to country; and South Australian Native Title Service’s (SANTS) immense efforts during the past ten years to work closely with Traditional Owners to recognise and negotiate Native Title agreements.All of this comes back to one key thing; Aboriginal connection to our respective countries. Our land is enmeshed within our personhood. For me as an Anangu woman, the red dust that my ancestors walked upon flows through my veins. As I was painting it, this was what I was constantly reflecting on.In order to convey a concept like this, I used the two palettes of warm and cool (reds and purples, ochres and browns) to celebrate connection to land; and a cooler, more coastal palette (teals, sea greens, sand and gold colours) and to convey an understanding of connection to the waterways which carry immense importance to coastal mob.It uses a stylised imagery inspired by Harold Thomas’s Aboriginal flag, to evoke thoughts of two things; firstly the Sun, under which we are all united, and secondly our tenacity and steadfast message that we are here. We are surviving. We are thriving. And Native Title is an imperative part of that survival.The journey lines overlaid represent SANTS’ travelling to country and community and conversely, Traditional Owners travelling to SANTS. The intent here was to represent SANTS’s dedicated and thorough community consultation and work with Traditional Owners throughout those processes.The border between land and sea is a vague representation of the South Australian coast; this is not to place value on coast over inland SA, more to symbolise SANTS commitment to South Australian mob and the value that SANTS places on ALL Native Title holders.The sections that make up the background do not illustrate specific language groups, this is not an attempt to recreate Tindale’s map; it is an abstract representation of our diversity of Aboriginal people in SA and an abstract view from above.The vast number does not represent exactly the number of mobs that SANTS has guided through the process of Native Title Agreement; rather it celebrates SANTS achievement over the last 10 years; and represents SANTS commitment to navigating Native Title for Aboriginal people in South Australia into the future.

Elizabeth Close July 2018


SANTS acknowledges that the land on which our office is based is the traditional lands for the Kaurna people and we respect their spiritual and cultural relationship with their country.