Nganpangga

Abstract

The Kaurna name Nganpangga probably refers to Chandler’s Hill (the hill itself, not the suburb). It was recorded in 1844 as ‘Unbunga’, the name of the property on Section 5581 occupied by Charles Chandler but owned by the South Australian Company. The meaning of the name is unknown. This massive separate hill was a landmark for early settlers, who named it after its one early occupant, Chandler. Its summit on Sections 270, 272 and 273 (around the intersection of Chandlers Hill Rd and Sugarloaf Rd) was a crossroad for Kaurna, Peramangk and Ngarrindjeri travellers, and remains so for settlers too up to this day. In both pre-contact and post-contact times, it could lead north to Adelaide; or southwest to Old Noarlunga; or east to Mt Barker in Peramangk country; or south to Clarendon, a popular campsite and hub which led via Meadows to Ngarrindjeri land southeast on Lake Alexandrina or south at Goolwa.