Barapa Barapa people have been custodians of waterways for thousands of years. We’re one of many Aboriginal Nations who are Traditional Owners of Murray River Country. The health of our Country's waterways and wetlands is intrinsically linked to our cultural and spiritual identity.
European occupation has impacted dramatically on our culture and society, supressing its flow as dramatically as regulation has to rivers and wetlands. It is our inherent responsibility to look after Country -to heal the damage of the past and protect it for the future generations.
We want to share the message of our connection as it’s important for you to understand the value of water from a cultural perspective, in order to work in genuine partnership with Traditional Owners to ensure the best possible cultural and environmental outcomes.
By learning the cultural landscape from us, water managers can listen to what our old people are saying. Scar trees, earth mounds and middens show tangible evidence of their presence. We feel their spiritual presence too and know these places were rich in resources now degraded or gone. Our connection through song, dance, storytelling, places and totems is our cultural science. These things also provide a lens that shows what our waterways were like before European occupation.
It is only through the willingness of people like you that we may drive reforms to policy, legal instruments and management frameworks and overcome the societal barriers that inhibit greater Aboriginal participation. You are our challenge and our strongest hope for change.