The shire of Brewarrina respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we govern, the Ngemba, Murrawarri, Euahlayi, Weilwan, Ualari and Barranbinya peoples, and pay our respect to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and honour the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2,000 generations.

Brewarrina Shire Council is committed to walking together to build a better future for our community. First Nations people hold leadership positions in our Council, including our General Manager, and seven out of our nine Councillors identify as Aboriginal, which ensures collaboration with First Nations communities when developing strategies, which are designed to celebrate, support and expand Indigenous culture throughout our community.

Brewarrina is strongly grounded in its First Nations heritage. Situated on the banks of the Barwon River, Brewarrina is home to what is thought to be the oldest man-made structure on earth, the National Heritage listed Baiame’s Ngunnhu or Brewarrina Fish Traps. This was one of the great inter-tribal meeting places in Eastern Australia for many nations of Aboriginal peoples, including the Morawari, Barkinji, Weilwan, Kamilaroi, Koamu, Valarai, Baranbinja, Wiradjuri, Ngemba, and Yualwarri peoples.

Archaeologists estimate the Ngunnhu to be over 40,000 years old, and they continue to have a strong social, cultural and spiritual association for Aboriginal people with connections to the area.

The Ngunnhu is a great example of human ingenuity from long before recorded time, and when the river runs, First Nations people still use the traps to catch fish traditionally.

Aboriginal legend explains that the fish traps are an ancient Dreams site built by the ancestral creator, Baiame, and his two sons Booma-ooma-nowi and Ghinda-inda-mui. Baiame came up with the design by throwing his net over the river and, with the help of his two sons, built the fish traps to their current shape. 

The intricate design of the dry-stone rock weirs and pens stretches for around half a kilometre and was built by ancient tribes, to catch fish as they swam upstream. The design also allowed the fish traps to resist damage during both high and low river flows.

While the Ngemba people are custodians of the fishery, it is said Baiame commanded the traps be shared with other tribes in the area, including the Morowari, Paarkinji, Weilwan, Barabinja, Ualarai and Kamilaroi.

Baiame allocated particular traps to each family group and made them responsible for their use and maintenance. Neighbouring tribes were invited to the fish traps to join corroborees, initiation ceremonies, and meetings for trade and barter.

The history of Brewarrina for First Nations people reflects the national pain experienced by Indigenous people due to colonisation in Australia. The Hospital Creek massacre and removal of people to the Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission are two important reminders of this pain.

A memorial now lies at the Hospital Creek massacre site, where hundreds of men, women and children were killed in 1859 in one of the biggest mass slaughters of Aboriginal people in NSW.  

The Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission was the largest and longest running institutional-type community in the state. It opened as early as 1887 and was managed by the Aboriginal Welfare/Protection Board through forced relocation, to assimilate Aboriginal people through segregation. The Mission was home to Aboriginal people from many different language and cultural backgrounds. The buildings are no longer standing, but the mission site and nearby cemetery are highly significant to many Aboriginal people, including local Ngiyampaa and Murawari speakers, as a ‘place of belonging’.

Today there is a genuine commitment in the community and in Brewarrina Shire Council to build a vibrant and positive town future, physically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and economically, for all community members.