The Yuki (bark canoe): Sharing Ngarrindjeri culture is a new multimedia, immersive display at the South Australian Maritime Museum which helps the Museum tell important stories of South Australia’s waterways and embed First Nations culture in the Museum’s narrative.
“In our culture, we made this for thousands of years. It was taking the bark off the tree, treating it, drying it, shaping it. The yuki, the bark canoe, that’s something that we are very proud of, that it was a part of our culture – the Ngarrindjeri.” Ngarrindjeri Elder, Uncle Major ‘Moogy’ Sumner.
The Ngarrindjeri were skilled canoe makers and a yuki was used for travel, fishing, hunting, and to meet up for ceremonial gatherings along the Murray River and Lower Lakes regions of South Australia. Ngarrindjeri Ruwe (Ngarrindjeri Country) extends east from Pomberuk (Murray Bridge), across the southern tip of Fleurieu Peninsula, and down to The Granites near Kingston, south of the Kurangk (Coorong).
