Cliff Coulthard

Adnyamathanha elder and world-renowned rock art expert Dr Cliff Coulthard has been farewelled after a battle with cancer, aged 70.  

More than 1200 people descended on the outback town of Hawker on July 21 to attend his funeral, which began with a country version of Amazing Grace.  

Dr Coulthard's brother Terrence stood next to the coffin, which was decorated in pictures of "the bloke's special places" - Wilpena, Mount Chambers and Iga Warta, the family's award-winning cultural tourism venture.  

His family had gathered just weeks before to farewell another of his brothers, Clarence Coulthard.  

Terrence opened the service at Hawker Institute Hall by singing a Welcome to Country in his people's Adnyamathanha language.  

The tributes that followed, captured the man who had spent his life promoting and protecting his Adnyamathanha culture.  

The Advertiser was given permission by Dr Clifford Coulthard's family to use his name and photograph.  

The gathering heard of his life as a child, living with his family - parents Clem and Lena, five brothers and two sisters - on the Nepabunna Mission in a house made of flattened kerosene tins, where speaking their traditional language was actively discouraged.  

His life as a ranger, researcher and rock art expert whose incomparable cultural knowledge took him onto the world stage to share the stories of the Adnyamathanha people.  

A colourful tribute from archaeologist Dr Giles Hamm honed in on one of the most exhilarating times of his and Dr Coulthard's lives. As a 15-year-old drover Cliff had been shown a unique site in a gorge near the Strzelecki Track. In 2012, he took Dr Ham back to the site. The subsequent archaeological excavation at the Warratyi Rock Shelter unearthed 49,000 year old artefacts that reset the clock on human settlement. Previous digs in the rangers had only found items dating back 27,000 years.  

"It's just like it was waiting for me and the spirit of those old men guided me there," Dr Coulthard said later.  

Dr Ham's tribute reminded funeral guests of his friend's lifelong advocacy - and his message that needed to live on.

"My heritage is a still a living entity,'' Dr Coulthard said in 1984. "We should be doing all we can now to preserve relics of our past and teaching the importance of heritage, from the tribal elders to the youngest of our people.  

"The rock art and landscape is like a book telling all that is past and all that is to come. Although our people live in the white man's way, we are still bound to this land as our foregathers were."

 A letter of condolence from South Australian Attorney-General and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Kyam Maher was read at the funeral. It acknowledged Dr Coulthard's many achievements and mentorship of young Adnyamathanha people.  

"I was privileged to know Dr Coulthard, who will be remembered as an Adnyamathanha leader, cultural teacher, ranger and researcher. He was a remarkable person who leaves a significant legacy," he said.  

Eulogist David McRae said his brother-in-law's passing and loss of cultural knowledge was like "closing a library or losing an encyclopedia."  

Dr Coulthard, a father of six, was awarded an honorary doctorate by Flinders University last year, and just months before his death on July 6 the NAIDOC SA committee recognised his significant contribution to cultural understanding with the Male Elder of the Year award.

Dr Clifford Coulthard eulogy

With permission from the Coulthard family we publish the eulogy delivered by Dr Coulthard's close friend and former colleague Bob Ellis.  

Dr Clifford Coulthard was born at Leigh Creek on March 8 1953, the son of Clem and Lena Coulthard. He was the eldest of five brothers and two sisters. Both his parents were strongly committed to the maintenance of Adnyamathanha culture, language and values of the Northern Flinders Ranges which Cliff later came to represent and to promote.  

He lived his early years at Copley Top Camp. He attended school at Copley and in 1960 moved to Nepabunna Mission with his family where he continued his schooling until he left to begin station work at 15. At Nepabunna their house was a shelter of flattened kerosene tins. The missionaries actively discouraged the use of Adnyamathanha language and cultural practices.  

At the age of 17 he became a drover, working with his uncle Bill McKenzie bringing cattle from the Birdsville Track to Marree and from Anna Creek to Murnpeowie. He met his wife Kathy McRae at this time and they married and had three sons, Kristian, Justin and Damien. Justin was later killed in a car accident and Cliff and Kathy subsequently separated. Cliff later met his partner, Genevieve McCarthy, while teaching and they had three children, Guy, Alicia an Arena.

 

Cliff had a strong and enduring bond with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren together with a vital and enduring relationship with his siblings.  

In 1977 Cliff was appointed a trainee heritage ranger in the Aboriginal and Historic Relics Unit of the SA Museum with two other Adnyamathanha young people who had been selected by the "old people" in recognition of their commitment to their culture and heritage. In the course of his subsequent career Cliff acquired a deep and abiding knowledge of Adnyamathanha culture and tradition which he applied to protecting, preserving and promoting that tradition.  

He became an expert in the rock art of the Flinders Ranges, providing assistance to senior Australian and overseas researchers in their regional inquiries. As a result, he was sponsored to travel to France where he was able to provide seminars and where he was given a special opportunity visit the Lascaux caves which were by then closed to public access and where some of the oldest European art was preserved.  

Cliff later travelled to Penang as cultural advisor for the Sister Cities Forum representing Adelaide. He was also the first Aboriginal cultural teacher working at Wattle Park Teachers College and in the Department of the Arts, Tandanya and SA Tourism Commission. He was a Board Member of Vulkathunha (Gammon Ranges) National Park for 10 years, Chairperson of Artoowarapana Council and instrumental in the establishment of Iga Warta, the award-winning cultural tourism venture set up with his siblings to share cultural knowledge with the wider community.  

Cliff featured in Six Australians on ABC TV in 1980, appeared in One Night the Moon with Paul Kelly and Ruby Hunter, in Life of Harry Dare and more recently as a zombie hunter in Cargo. 

He facilitated the examination of Warratyi Rock Shelter in the Northern Finders Ranges which he had discovered during his earlier travels, by archaeologists headed by Dr Giles Hamm. That excavation proved that Adnyamathanha antecedents had interacted with giant megafauna 49,000 years ago and demonstrated the oldest use of ochre pigments in Australia and the world's oldest bone tool. Subsequently, he travelled to Prague to share the story of the excavation and its conclusions.  

As a result of his contributions to academic inquiry and his extensive knowledge together with his contribution to broader cultural awareness and understanding Cliff was awarded a Doctor of Letters honoris by Flinders University in 2022.  

Late last year Cliff received advice that he had a terminal illness which would result in his early death. In 2023 he was awarded NAIDOC Male Elder of the year, but he was unable to accept the award personally as a result of his advanced illness.  

The many tributes since his death have acknowledged his skill as a researcher, teacher and cultural practitioner and his commitment to family and community.  

The Advertiser was given permission by Dr Clifford Coulthard's family to use his name and photograph.