Population and traditional practices are hard to verify as shortly after the European settlement of the Adelaide Hills, especially in Mount Barker and Hahndorf, the Peramangk had mysteriously disappeared.

There are several Peramangk words recorded in a variety of sources ;-ku: itpo-sacred or forbidden place ;-maitpana: likkya-food for them ( a ration station near Mount Barker );-poona: good / healthy / fertile ( poonawatta-Lyndoch Valley );-watta ( worta ): a persons land or country ;-tarra: land that rises up, a steep hill or ridge ;-karra: redgum ( same as in the Kaurna );-kungatukko: womens look out ( in Peramangk a hard TT sound is sometimes ; replaced with a hard KK sound instead );-wadnar: digging or climbing stick ;-kakirra: moon ;-nurrondi: enchant / charm ;-meyuworta ( meruwatta ): countryman / a person belonging to the same family group ;-marnitti: grease to mix with ochre to cover the body ;-mambarti: hair matted with grease and red ochre ;-kuyeta: first born son ;-kartiatto: first born daughter ;-yarida: bad magic ;-lantara: ghost or spirit ;-tinda: a persons totem ;

There are other stories connected to the two peaks, one concerning Two Men and another referring to the two moiety groups of the Kaurna and probably the Peramangk people as well.

* There are clear dialectic differences between Peramangk and Kaurna place names, especially east and north east of Mount Barker

The Peramangk people, living further inland, visited the area from time to time, chiefly in the warmer parts of the year.

The stringy bark forests of the Mount Lofty Ranges have been claimed as a traditional boundary between Kaurna and Peramangk people.

Mount Barker was originally home to the Peramangk Aboriginal people.

Once the home of the Peramangk Aboriginal people, European settlement commenced in the mid nineteenth century, a primary school opened in 1871 and the town was formally established in the 1880s.

In pre-European times, the Ngarrindjeri people used the Marne Valley as a route up into the hills to trade with the Peramangk people in the Barossa Valley and to cut bark canoes from the River Red Gums in the hills which had thicker bark than those near the Murray.

Two Mates – Who travelled from other lands way up north to visit the Peramangk people at Mount Lofty

The territory of the Peramangk people prior to European arrival followed clearly defined geographical boundaries and is confirmed by both art site locations, the Tjilbruke Songline ( full version ), and interviews given by survivors to Tindale in various journals.

At the height of their power Peramangk people closely guarded the secrets of this area.

The area is also the sight of the performance of the Rainbow Palti, a dance shared by the Mauraura and Peramangk people.

Peramangk people this side of the ranges adopted a hard KK sound instead of a hard TT sound.

It provided access to the river for Peramangk people and was a place of trade with the Ngaralta and Ngarkat people.

The practices of fire stick farming and mosaic burning by Peramangk people created large areas of open grass lands for Kangaroo grazing and left the landscape punctuated with large Eucalypts that were often used as shelters.

An important water hole ( now a weir ) is located here and was known as campsite along the Marne River Trade route between Nganguruku and northern Peramangk people, the Tarawatta ( or Yira-Ruka ).

The winter camping grounds of the Kaurna people and an important meeting and trading centre for both Kaurna and Peramangk peoples.

Looking on with amused bewilderment at the settlers stupidity, the local Peramangk people were not surprised when after heavy rain the town was flooded out and the Germans decided to move their settlement closer to Bethany.

This is consistent with Tindales findings that Peramangk people shared both a language and culture with these peoples.

* Tindale noted that at two sites along the River Murray where Peramangk people had access to the River, Peramangk place names can be found, Maitangga, Maitpalangga, Tartangga, Taingappa

The extension of Nanguruku lands into the Adelaide Hills further reflects the relocation of some Peramangk people to their relations along the River Murray, an area north of Manunka to Swan Reach.

Other families with confirmed links to the Peramangk people include the Cooks, Natoons, Becks, Longs.

This is not an exhaustive list, but merely a sample of the many descendants of the Peramangk people who did not ‘ die out ’, as has been widely reported.

Norman B Tindale in his various interviews with Peramangk descendents recorded the names of at least 8 family groups ; the Poonawatta to the west of Mount Crawford, the Tarrawatta and Yira-Ruka ( Wiljani ) whose lands extended to the east down as far as Mount Torrens and Mannum.

* The shift in Peramangk territorial boundaries recorded by Berndt reflects a shift in population and location of the traditional owners to areas between Manunka and Murray Bridge, across to Clarendon.

Peramangk Burka men like Parruwonggaburka “ King John ”, had responsibility and traditional ownership over at tract of land ( pangkara ).

As it looked out over the northern boundary of Peramangk country and into Ngadjuri lands it was a significant feature in the local landscape.

* Kangari-illa: Caring Place – Kangarilla, by the name a location important to Peramangk women located at the head of the Kangarilla Valley that winds down to McLaren Flat.

Formerly Peramangk Aboriginal territory, European settlers first arrived in the late 1830s with timber from the area used in the construction of the city of Adelaide.

Conflicting reports show enmity between the three tribes of the Adelaide region, the Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri and Peramangk, yet other reports tell that the Peramangk were held with some reverence due to their differing cultural practices.

* Pereira: Hills Place – As in Peramangk, a Yaraldi place name.

They were also referred to as the Mount Barker tribe, as their numbers were noted to be greater around the Mount Barker summit, but Peramangk country extends from the Barossa Valley in the north, south to Myponga, east to Mannum and west to the Mount Lofty Ranges.

* Wilyaru ( Wiljaura ): Initiation Place – A location very near to Strathalbyn, is also the title for a fully initiated Peramangk / Kaurna man.

There is also no known Kaurna or Peramangk site within the Mount Lofty Botanic Garden.

There were many such shelter trees in use by the Kaurna and Peramangk as late as the 1840s, and evidence exists that they hunted and gathered in the woodlands and grasslands for many generations prior to European settlement.

The name Cudlee Creek is probably derived from Aboriginal Kaurna or possibly Peramangk language meaning the Dingo's Creek.

In recent decades, there have been attempts to identify Peramangk descendants through genealogy and DNA testing.

Peramangk family group names included Poonawatta, Tarrawatta, Karrawatta, Yira-Ruka, Wiljani, Mutingengal, Runganng, Jolori, Pongarang, Paldarinalwar, Merelda.

Although Peramangk culture was wiped out soon after settlement, many families survive with a Peramangk genealogy.

( ref: http :// www. samuseum. sa. gov. au / | Tindale Tribes | Peramangk | )

The Peramangk appears to have belonged to the Yura-Thura group of languages as described by Luis Hercuse, in A Nukunu Dictionary 1992, AIATSIS.

Tindale when interviewing Robert ' Tarby ' Mason, learned that the language of the Peramangk was related not only to that of the groups east of the river, but to the groups as far north as Lake Victoria.

Tjilbruke – The Water and Fire Man who travelled around all of Peramangk territory marking the boundaries of their territories with his travels.