Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains names of people who have died.

The stories of Ngarrindjeri women who resisted construction of the Hindmarsh Island bridge will be brought to the stage when Kumarangk: Sisterhood premieres at Adelaide Festival in March 2027.

The Country Arts SA production completes a trilogy exploring the women's resistance in the 1990s, alongside a visual arts exhibition and documentary film.

It follows the bonds between Ngarrindjeri mi:minis (women) at the centre of the campaign, including Sandra Saunders, Aunty Ellen Trevorrow, Dr Doreen Kartinyeri, Aunty Veronica Brodie and Aunty Maggie Jacobs.

Their stories are intertwined with a contemporary dance reimagining of the Ngarrindjeri creation story The Seven Sisters.

The production explores moments away from the cameras during the campaign, with a focus on the women's relationships, resilience and connection to Country.

Written by Wotjobaluk/Ngarrindjeri woman Tracey Rigney and directed by Ngarrindjeri/Wathaurong man Glenn Shea, the production will be performed outdoors at Yitpi Yartapuultiku on Kaurna Country in Port Adelaide.

Mr Shea described the connection between the women's resistance and the continuation of Ngarrindjeri culture.

"Our ceremonial songline comes from Ruwe (Country), and continued sacred business through story, song and dance supports our voices through the real-validated actions of a cultural reckoning which has been occurring through time immemorial," Mr Shea said.

"Our women, our mothers, our aunties, our sisters and our daughters stand on the shoulder our of Ngarrindjeri ancestral spirits who have always sung us into being.

"The majestic Seven Sisters watch over our women and Ruwe continually - the past, the present and the future."

The story comes from the Country of the Ramindjeri Larkinjeri (clan) of the Ngarrindjeri Nation.

Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) sits at the end of Murrundi (Murray River), among South Australia's lower lakes and the beginning of the Coorong, and holds stories relating to Ngarrindjeri women's business.

The wider project centres the women's accounts of protecting land, water and culture, with their cultural authority guiding how those experiences are represented.

Its Cultural Authority includes Ngarrindjeri/Boandik woman Ms Saunders, Ngarrindjeri woman Aunty Ellen Trevorrow and Kaurna/Ngarrindjeri/Mirning woman Aunty Margaret Brodie, representing her late mother Aunty Veronica Brodie.

Narungga/Ngarrindjeri/Kaurna women Tahlia and Illira Wanganeen represent their late nana, Dr Doreen Kartinyeri.

Through truth-telling, the project seeks to provide a form of restorative justice for the women and help new audiences understand the campaign from a First Nations perspective.

The exhibition draws on Ms Saunders' 'The Hindmarsh Island Collection', a series of paintings and wireworks through which she documented the controversy and reclaimed her own narrative.

Works from that collection feature alongside newly commissioned pieces by Ngarrindjeri women artists at Adelaide Contemporary Experimental.

The documentary, written and directed by Ms Rigney, combines interviews, archival footage and animation to examine the campaign and its impacts on the women and the Ngarrindjeri Nation.

It forms part of the Adelaide Film Festival 2026 program.

A community-led archive underpins the three works, preserving material about Ngarrindjeri resistance, activism and efforts to protect culture and heritage.

Supported by the State Library of South Australia and Flinders University, the archive is led by Associate Professor Natalie Harkin and research assistant Denise Noack.

'Kumarangk: Sisterhood' will run from March 3 to 7, 2027, with tickets available through Country Arts SA website.