The Murray-Darling basin
– covers 1,061,469 square kilometres, equivalent to 14% of
Australia’s total area.
– is defined by the catchment areas of the Murray and
Darling Rivers and their many tributaries.
The Darling (2,740 km), Murray (2,530 km) and
Murrumbidgee (1,690 km) are Australia’s three longest rivers.
Reproduced courtesy Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Family drying pitted peaches onto trays, which were laid out in the
sun, then when dried, packed into boxes in the late 19th century
Reproduced courtesy Mildura & District Historical Society
Published by the Australian National Maritime Museum,
Sydney, 2006
© Commonwealth of Australia
ISBN 0-9751428-5-2
WARNING:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors should
be aware that The River – Life on the Murray-Darling
booklet contains images of deceased persons.
Authors Michelle Linder ANMM
Bill Seager SAMM
Coordinator Mariea Fisher ANMM
Photography Andrew Frolows ANMM
unless otherwise credited
Graphic design Daniel Ormella ANMM
Heidi Riederer ANMM
Printed in Australia by Peachy Print
Inside front cover:
The paddle steamer Emily Jane operated as a floating store in the
19th century
Reproduced courtesy Mildura & District Historical Society
Sponsored by SA Water to mark their
150th anniversary, 1856 to 2006
This exhibition is supported by Visions Australia,
an Australian Government Program supporting
touring exhibitions by providing funding
assistance for the development and touring
of cultural material across Australia.
The River – Life on the Murray-Darling
Murray cod
Catching cod
Carp and cod in the river today
A wealthy prospect
Riverboats away
Wool life
Irrigators, soldiers and settlers
Damming and diverting the river
Murray pipelines
Soldier settlement
River floods
Italian settlers
Sharing the water
Land of plenty?
Other ways of living with the rivers
Our travelling exhibition The River – Life
on the Murray-Darling is an achievement
of regional and national partners, Federal
and State support, and the museums,
communities and individuals of Australia’s
vast inland river basin.
Collaboration began with an early Australian National
Maritime Museum initiative to hold a meeting at the
Museum of Riverina, Wagga Wagga, in 2003. The
opportunity emerged to tell the stories of people
of the nation’s largest inland river using regional
collections. With our major partner, South Australian
Maritime Museum, the diverse cultural histories of
river communities were explored for an exhibition.
In 2005 Visions of Australia provided a Development
Grant and, with sponsorship from South Australian
Water, the National Maritime Museum embarked on
a unique regional exhibition development.
To meet community representatives a Regional Liaison
Officer travelled on field trips from Hay in 43 degree
heat to Echuca, Swan Reach, Mildura, Murray Bridge
and Goolwa and many more places along the Murray.
The surviving historic river material is carefully kept in
small regional museums, historical societies and private
collections. I would like to thank everyone who has
generously lent objects to create The River – Life on
the Murray-Darling travelling exhibition and told us
the stories to tell.
Sponsored by SA Water to mark their
150th anniversary, 1856 to 2006
With a touring grant from Visions of Australia, the
exhibition is being shown at many venues across several
states. Our team at the Australian National Maritime
Museum has enjoyed working closing with co-workers
at the South Australian Maritime Museum and grateful
to meet face-to-face regional colleagues to produce this
show about the people of the Murray-Darling rivers.
In 2006 SA Water is celebrating 150 years of delivering
water and wastewater services to the people of South
Australia. SA Water is the custodian of billions of
dollars worth of community assets. And our recent
150th celebrations have highlighted the significant
value of our people and the role they have played –
and continue to play – in building South Australia.
On behalf of the Australian National Maritime Museum,
I would like to express our special thanks to Visions of
Australia, South Australian Water, our major partner
South Australian Maritime Museum, Kevin Jones,
SAMM Director, our supporters, Murray-Darling Basin
Commission, the Museum of Riverina, Albury Regional
Museum and the many regional communities.
SA Water is very proud of our partnership with the
South Australian Maritime Museum, and we are
pleased to sponsor The River – Life on the MurrayDarling an exhibition that recognises the impact of the
River Murray on the people of Australia.
For the past 150 years, the River Murray has been our
lifeblood in South Australia. Over the years it has
posed new challenges and SA Water has risen to those
challenges in an effort to sustain our precious water
resources for the future.
On behalf of SA Water, I sincerely hope you enjoy The
River – Life on the Murray-Darling. I’m sure that people
of all ages will enjoy the stories of those who lived and
worked along the Murray and all of the many wonders
of this great Australian treasure.
Mary-Louise Williams
Director
Anne Howe
Chief Executive
The River – Life on the Murray-Darling
Australia’s largest river system – the Murray-Darling – is
part of Australian identity. In drought and in flood it has
always been a focus of inland life. People of this vast river
basin: Indigenous communities, European explorers,
farmers, paddle-steamer workers, soldier settlers, irrigators,
immigrants, environmentalists and tourists are all part of
the history, the changing physical topography and the
future of the Murray-Darling.
From early river trade, the wool industry to the Federation
of Australia, irrigation and growing food produce, the rivers
are of national and regional significance. Crossing several
states, the Murray-Darling rivers have long been a
passionately contested site for water usage, control and
livelihood. The diverse decisions made and actions taken by
traders, settlers, farmers, engineers, politicians and many
others, have all contributed to the current environment of
the rivers and tributaries.
The stories and histories of the people living and working
along these rivers tell of survival and production for the
nation, tourism and water rights.
11
A snake hunt on the Murray, 118 tiger snakes in 2 hours
Reproduced courtesy Echuca Historical Society,
National Library of Australia
Murray cod
The Murray cod has become a symbol of the river and its
fortunes follow the flow. Many people believe the health
of the cod represents the overall health of the river system.
Numbers of Murray cod and other native fish in the
Murray-Darling Basin have declined due to water pollution,
the introduction of exotic fish and the transformation of
the river environment. Changes include the removal of
snags (good hiding spots away from predators) from the
river and the construction of locks and weirs.
For the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia the Murray
River was formed when the great Ancestral Being,
Ngurunderi followed his runaway wives after a quarrel.
He arrived at the meeting of the Murray and
Murrumbidgee Rivers where he saw and tried to spear
Pondi (the Murray cod). Pondi darted away, the sweeps of
his tail deepening and widening the creeks and shaping
the river.
13
Ngurunderi rested at Wellington, made a fire and sent
smoke signals to his brothers-in-law, asking for help to find
his wives and telling them about the giant Pondi. As Pondi
entered Lake Alexandrina where fresh and saltwater mix,
he was speared. Ngurunderi cut him up and threw the
pieces into the water, creating silver bream, mullet and
the Murray cod.
Setting a line across the River Murray
Ian Abdulla 1999
ANMM Collection
Catching cod
Carp and cod in the river today
Anglers keen to catch the ‘big one’ have taken part in
fishing competitions along the banks of the Murray-Darling
River system for generations. Some have fished for
sustenance or survival, especially during the Great
Depression, others have made their living through
commercial fishing of freshwater fish, but the majority
of people have fished for fun.
European carp were introduced into Australia in the 1850s
and they bred profusely and spread throughout the MurrayDarling in the floods of 1974–1975. Their voracious feeding
habits cause damage to the riverbed and increase the
muddiness of the water.
Today strict regulations are set by government authorities
on the number, length and weight of Murray cod caught
by fishing enthusiasts. The largest Murray cod recorded
(in 1902) weighed approximately 113.5 kg, was 1.8 m long
and had an estimated age of 75–114 years. The Cod Open
Classic on Lake Mulwala held in December each year
marks the beginning of the competitive recreational cod
fishing calendar.
Today carp thrive in the warm temperatures of the
regulated river, while Murray cod struggle to survive in
a river system in decline. Positive steps to increase cod
numbers include rehabilitation of habitats and the
introduction of fishways to help cod through the obstaclecourse of locks and weirs that block their passage upstream.
Twelve major barriers such as dams and weirs are blocking
fish movement in the Murray between the sea and the
Hume Dam.
The Murray-Darling Basin Commission’s Native Fish
Strategy 2003–2013 aims to rehabilitate native fish
communities in the Murray-Darling Basin back to 60% of
their estimated pre-European settlement levels. It is hoped
this will be achieved by 2053. The ‘Sea to Hume Dam’
project is an integral part of the native fish strategy and is
designed to provide continuous passage for native fish for
a distance of 2,225 km from the mouth of the Murray River
to the Hume Dam near Albury-Wodonga.
A family catch!
Reproduced courtesy South Australian Maritime Museum
Murray cod
Gunther Schmida Photographer
Reproduced courtesy Murray-Darling Basin Commission
15
A wealthy prospect
To the eastern and southern colonies, the Murray, Darling
and Murrumbidgee river systems represented a new future.
For Indigenous nations who had belonged to the river
country for tens of thousands of years, life was about to
be turned on its head.
Captain Charles Sturt set out to explore the
Murrumbidgee River in 1829 and establish why the rivers
in New South Wales flowed westward. By the end of 1830
he had navigated the River Murray from its junction with
the Darling to its elusive southern mouth. Matthew
Flinders had missed the mouth while charting the
southern coastline in 1802 but Sturt solved the great
colonial riddle. After further explorations and overlanding
expeditions, Sturt also established that the rivers were
navigable and their lands fertile. His diaries also make it
obvious he would have achieved little without the
assistance of local Aboriginal people, and that European
diseases were already killing the original inhabitants of
the river lands.
Graziers began their push west early in the 19th century.
With the Murray-Darling river system now a reality,
southern colonies were also viable. South Australia could
not have been settled without the river system and
riverboats were about to make it the economical
superhighway of colonial Australia.
17
Work at Point McLeay
A mission station was founded at Point McLeay in 1859 as an
initiative of the Aborigines’ Friends Association of Adelaide.
Aboriginal workers were the backbone of many working wool
stations, and are shown here with wool for export.
Reproduced courtesy South Australian Museum Archives
PS Queen and Bourke barge about 1900
Lent by Mannum Dock Museum
Wool and river boats
The PS Queen and the barge Bourke sailed side by side as
workhorses of the Murray. In the 1860s the Queen carried the
Duke of Edinburgh across Lake Alexandrina on his royal visit to
South Australia, while the Bourke was built at Echuca in 1876.
Reproduced courtesy South Australian Maritime Museum
Riverboats away
Wool life
In 1853 the Lady Augusta under Francis Cadell and Mary
Ann under William Randell became the first steamers to
reach Swan Hill. The age of steam on the rivers brought
an end to the expensive and slow days of bullock train
transport. Within 10 years there were 17 steamers working
the rivers and within 20 there were hundreds.
For wool properties the river highway signified cheaper
and faster transport and greater flocks and clips. Paddlesteamers and barges collected wool directly from properties
as widespread as Bourke at the end of the Darling and
Milang at the end of the Murray, taking it to larger ports like
Echuca or Goolwa. From there it went by rail to seaports
and the British market. The rivers also brought goods
upstream, giving families the comforts of a piano or china
brought from England, or the opportunity to redecorate.
More than 5,600 of the Murray, Darling and
Murrumbidgee’s 12,875 kilometres were navigable. But
these were unpredictable waters. Successful navigation
depended on the right water levels and an intimate
knowledge of the rivers’ flat, murky and winding pathways.
River captains drew their own long rolled charts marking
bends, snags, properties and hotels while powerful
snagging steamers dragged the invisible river bottoms
clear. Weeping willows were planted along the banks to
aid navigation at night.
Ship-building industries quickly grew in towns like Goolwa,
Mannum, Echuca and Moama. Tradesmen and mariners
came from all over the world to cash in on the opportunities
provided by the river trade. Sea and bush skills combined to
craft the boats, tools and community identity needed to
sustain an industry founded on riverboats.
By 1939 it had all ended. Road and rail transport had
replaced riverboat trade. Also gone were the great river
red gum forests, sacrificed to build the boats and fuel
their engines.
Wool properties used the river in practical and inventive
ways. Elaborate wool wash runs built in the shallows gave
wool growers a cleaner clip and higher price. The wool was
then spread out to dry on vast areas of cleared limestone.
Many properties had their own wharves and wool stores
built close to the shearing sheds. Loading ramps built from
timber logs allowed the bales to be rolled onto the barges
where they were carefully stacked in pyramid format. A
fully laden barge could carry an amazing 1,700 bales.
Station life on the rivers made many pastoralists rich and
sustained an itinerant community of shearers and workers.
Shearers on the rivers were notorious, with some farmers
hanging sets of rules for work and behaviour in their sheds.
Empty beer bottles floating downstream were often the
signal that the shearers were on their way.
Navigating the river
This chart was made by James B Packer and maps the Darling River in
New South Wales from Cuthro Woolshed at Moorana to Wentworth.
19
ANMM Collection
Irrigators, soldiers and settlers
By the 1870s it was clear to farmers and governments that
only by controlling the waterways could the land yield real
profits. Some landowners dammed their waterways and
found themselves in conflict with downstream neighbours.
Colonial governments feuded over who owned the right to
manipulate the rivers.
Settlers flocked to the riverlands but the backbreaking work,
heatwaves, drought and declining fortunes of the Chaffey
business meant that bigger and better infrastructure was
needed if the riverlands were to fulfill their promise.
Successive droughts led the government of Victoria to
search the world for the latest in irrigation technology.
Canadian-born George and William Chaffey had
revolutionised irrigation pioneered in California.
In Australia they began working the mallee area around
Mildura before founding Australia’s first irrigation
settlement at Renmark in 1887. Their scheme relied on
holding and piping water to fruit blocks and vineyards
on smaller irrigation colonies.
21
Irrigating vines and orange trees in front of Villa Margarita
at Mildura in 1900.
Reproduced courtesy Mildura & District Historical Society
Father of irrigation badge
Lent by Olivewood National Trust Museum Renmark
Damming and diverting the river
Murray pipelines
As the 20th century wore on, so did the push by the State
and Federal governments to secure water and drought-proof
the river regions. The River Murray Agreement of 1915
committed to construct two large storage areas, one on the
Upper Murray above Albury, (the Hume Dam) and another
at Lake Victoria on the South Australia-Victoria border.
With its relatively low rainfall and long, dry summers,
South Australia depends heavily on water from the Murray
River. Whyalla was one of the first areas to receive water
piped from the Murray when the Morgan–Whyalla pipeline
was completed in 1944. Other major pipelines include the
Mannum–Adelaide, 1954; Swan Reach to Stockwell and
Tailem Bend to Keith, late 1960s; and Murray Bridge to
Onkaparinga River near Hahndorf, 1973. These pipelines
have become vital to South Australia’s agriculture, industry
and households and in dry years can supply up to 90% of
the state’s urban water needs.
The Hume with a capacity of up to three million megalitres
of water, would guarantee a year-round supply of water
from the Murray catchment by storing winter flows and
releasing them in the drier summer months. The
construction of the Hume Dam began in 1919 and involved
hundreds of workers. When completed in 1936, the Hume
was the biggest dam in the southern hemisphere and
among the largest in the world.
Painting the Morgan–Whyalla pipeline Port Augusta 1944
Reproduced courtesy SA Water
23
Reg Telfer cycled from Broken Hill along the Darling River to Mildura
in 1919 to obtain a soldier settlement block, but was allotted a block
in Monash, South Australia.
Reproduced courtesy Grantley Telfer
Blockies boots
These boots were used by ‘blockies’ to keep their feet warm and dry
while pruning vines.
Lent by Olivewood National Trust Museum Renmark
Soldier settlement
With water being secured to irrigate and create Australia’s
Food Bowl, both the State and Federal governments
introduced policies and incentives to populate the river
regions and extend the irrigation process. The post-WWI
and WWII soldier-settlement policies were introduced as
incentives to settlers. The States provided blocks of land
and the Commonwealth government sponsored the loans.
Blood, sweat and tears was the order of the day for many
of these new settlers to the river regions. Most had little
or limited farming expertise, they lacked equipment and
were unfamiliar with rural life. Most early settlers had to
live in huts, battle rabbits eating their crops and irrigate
their trees by hand, as the government had failed to deliver
on promised irrigation works.
These settlers or ‘blockies’ as they came to be known,
carved out a new life with ingenuity and adapted to the
harsh reality of farming in the river regions.
24
Main street of Mannum during the 1956 floods
Reproduced courtesy Mannum Dock Museum
Main street of Mannum during the 1931 flood
Reproduced courtesy Mannum Dock Museum
Ferguson tractor pulling a car through the
flood waters in 1950
Reproduced courtesy Hay Historical Society
River floods
Early European settlers in the Murray-Darling Basin battled
many floods in the 19th century. The Murrumbidgee River
flooded in 1867 and in 1870 the first flood officially
recorded on the Murray reached 11 metres at Morgan in
South Australia. In 1890 nine people drowned and many
thousands of sheep were lost in a disastrous flood when
the Darling River broke its banks. Transport and
communications were severely disrupted in the town of
Bourke and parts of western New South Wales and South
Australia for months.
In August of 1956 the Murray River rose to an above
habitual level and tragically flooded the towns along its
winding stream. The water reached record levels peaking
at 12.3 metres at Morgan, SA. The flood is considered to be
South Australia’s greatest natural catastrophe. The flood
took several months to subside and is still remembered
vividly by those who lived through it. For the town of Swan
Reach the flood of 1956 was catastrophic, most of the
town’s business buildings and houses that lay in the path
of the flood were washed away.
The town of Wentworth is located where the Murray and
Darling rivers meet and when the flood struck the town
was surrounded by 130 kilometres of water. Only one house
was flooded as the locals used an army of Massey Ferguson
tractors to reach the stranded and to build the levees. A
monument to the Massey Ferguson tractor was built to
honour the tractor. In July 2006 both visitors and residents
gathered in the Wentworth for the Festival of the Flood.
Over 300 Massey Ferguson tractors converged on the town
as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.
25
Italian settlers
Between 1947 and 1950, approximately 2,000 Italians
settled in the Murray-Darling Basin, with the majority
making their home in Griffith. They were responding to
Australian government campaigns encouraging Europeans
to make a new home in Australia. Many of those who came
were experienced farmers who were prepared to work very
long hours on the land. Entire family groups used age-old
techniques from their homeland to produce enormous
quantities of fruit, rice, vegetables and grapes. By 1954,
Italian families owned nearly half of all horticultural farms
in the Riverina.
A few Italians had settled decades earlier, the first arriving
in 1913 when irrigation water was released into the
Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area for the first time. The men
often travelled alone, their wives and children followed
later. Initially the men lived in tents and worked on leased
land, before acquiring the capital to purchase land of their
own. In 1921 there were just 33 Italians in Griffith.
Italians have been pivotal in shaping the irrigation region.
Today produce grown and wine produced by descendants
of Italian immigrants grace kitchen and dining room tables
around the nation.
27
Pastega family settle in Griffith
Angelo Pastega arrived in Australia in 1912, but was recalled to the
Italian Army to serve in World War I. He returned in 1920, his fiancée
Gina followed him and they married in 1921, a day after her arrival.
They settled in a local boarding house run by an Italian family before
obtaining a soldier settler block in Griffith in 1922. This handkerchief
box was hand made by Gina Pastega.
Lent by Pioneer Park Museum Griffith
The Pastega family of Griffith with trays of fruit, 1930s
Reproduced courtesy Pioneer Park Museum Griffith
Profuma de la Vingna
The Garreffa family and guests during the ‘Profuma de la Vingna’
(Perfume of the Grapes) in their vineyard in February 2006. The
celebration was held in conjunction with a Slow Food Dinner. The
slow food movement began in Paris in 1989 to encourage the
cultivation of local produce and promote regional cooking. Mildura
has become the home of the movement in Australia with the first
annual dinner taking place in 2002.
Reproduced courtesy Elina Garreffa
Sharing the water
The Murray-Darling may well call itself the birthplace of
Federation. It was at Corowa in 1893 that a vital conference
was held with the aim of creating a federated nation from
the colonies.
Before Federation the Murray was a contested frontline for
border trade, customs battles and water rights. Complex
inter-colonial tariff systems taxed people and goods crossing
from one colony to another. As a physical border, the
Murray became a frontline for border trade customs battles
and an underbelly of smugglers and profiteers. People
crossed the river with food hidden in their clothing and
brothels operated midstream to avoid custom duties.
Federation, it was hoped, would abolish internal customs
and allow free trade from east to west, north to south.
It was the inter-colonial disagreements over riparian rights
and who controlled the Murray that almost derailed
Federation. Riparian rights refer to the law which allows
land owners to use as they wish river water which flows
through their land. In the case of the Murray-Darling,
landowners often drew and diverted water in excessive and
bizarre ways. Secretive home-dug channels and unchecked
water use pitted neighbour against neighbour, and State
against State. New South Wales and Victoria wanted to
control the waters for irrigation. South Australia feared
this removal of water would affect downstream flows and
cripple an economy dependent on upstream navigation.
A national decision had to be made. However in 1901
Federation failed to grant complete governing powers
over the River Murray to the Commonwealth. The new
State governments had the power to use the Murray as
they wished.
29
In 1902 the Corowa Water Conference agreed that a body
of representatives from each State affected by the Murray’s
flows should be formed to administer the river. With the
passing of an Act in 1915 the River Murray Commission
was finally established in 1917. Formed by representatives
from South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, and
chaired by the Commonwealth, its vision was to ensure the
Murray remained Australia’s lifeline.
Murray Mouth South Australia 2004
The Murray Mouth is the point where the Murray River enters the
Southern Ocean. Since 2000 dredgers have been removing sand
from the channel to maintain a minimal flow from the sea into the
Coorong's coastal lagoon system. Without this 24-hour dredging,
the Mouth would silt up and close, cutting the supply of fresh
seawater into the Coorong.
Michael Bell Photographer
Reproduced courtesy Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Land of plenty?
For almost 200 years the waters of the Murray-Darling
system have been worked hard. Food and employment have
been the rewards, but demands have taken our waterways
to the cusp of destruction.
Regulation through the 146 locks, weirs, dams or barrages
secured agricultural success. The Murray-Darling system
contributes an estimated $10 billion dollars annually to
the Australian economy. It covers over one million square
kilometres, more than one seventh of Australia, and
produces almost half of Australia’s food. However the
Murray flows at a trickle of its former self. Its mouth is
regularly silted closed and Adelaide’s water supply often
under threat. In a dry year 90% of Adelaide’s water comes
from the Murray. New water allocation and government
buy-back schemes return water to the rivers but the
debate still rages over the viability of producing water
‘unfriendly’ crops.
The white death of salinity is also everywhere. Irrigation
creates surface water which draws salty water to the earth’s
surface where it stays, making thousands of hectares of
land unusable for centuries. Introduced species such as the
aggressive European carp have done their best to destroy
the plant and animal ecosystems below the water.
Vic’s generosity
The Critic 5 October 1904
At Federation the issue of water access was hotly debated as some
states feared that others would use water irresponsibly, even
vindictively. This cartoon shows South Australia empty-handed and
represented as a downtrodden boy while the voluptuous Victoria
takes off with access to the Murray waters.
VIC.’S GENEROSITY.
Vic. (to the small boy): “You see I intend to treat you with a sisterly
regard in the matter. You will observe that the droppings I allow to
go to you absolutely without condition.”
Reproduced courtesy State Library of South Australia
31
Miss C M Campbell and Fred J Pickering with the 100,000 oranges
and lemons which were part of the Floreat Mildura display at
Melbourne Town Hall during the Autumn Fair in 1895.
Reproduced courtesy Mildura & District Historical Society
Urban salinity
This house brick from Wagga Wagga shows a significant build up of
salt. The city is implementing a Salinity and Revegetation Action
Plan which involves planting suitable native trees, grass and shrub
species to alleviate the impact of salinity.
Lent by Museum of the Riverina Wagga Wagga
32
Rest and relax on the Murray 1930s
Artist John Goodchild
Reproduced courtesy National Library of Australia
Swimming lessons at Madman’s beach
Murrumbidgee River 1957
Gavin A Johnston Photographer
Reproduced courtesy Hay Historical Society
The pleasure cruiser Coonawarra postcard
Reproduced courtesy South Australian Maritime Museum
Other ways of living with the rivers
In the 1930s tourism on the River Murray was in its
infancy. Experiencing the river in its natural state was a lure
used to encourage people not just to make a living the river
but to enjoy the Murray. Riverboat cruises were promoted
as a laid-back pastime, promising a meander through idyllic
scenery and supposedly untouched backwaters.
Following World War II the riverboats and wharves became
an historic attraction in themselves, evoking nostalgia for
a bygone era. In 1963 Swan Hill established the first folk
museum along the river and the riverboat Gem, known as
‘Queen of the River’ became the star attraction of a
recreated colonial village.
Today houseboats equipped with all the comforts of a
contemporary home make their way along the river. In the
fast lane, water-skiers, kayakers, fishing enthusiasts and
swimmers pursue other aquatic pleasures. Eco-tourism is
growing in popularity as visitors seek to understand the
environment, the threats to its survival, and the important
place it claims in Australia’s identity.
There is no question that without the Murray-Darling Basin
much of Australia would be in serious danger. The mission
of the nation now, is to make sure the rivers live.
34
Dhungala (Murray River) Creation Story
Yorta Yorta possum skin cloak 2006
Treahna Hamm
Many Aboriginal people living in south-eastern Australia wore possum
skin cloaks to protect themselves from the cold weather and damp
conditions in the 19th century. The cloaks could be worn with either
side facing out and were sewn together with animal sinew. They were
sometimes decorated with symbols significant to country, cultural sites,
individuals and clans.
Treahna Hamm, Lee Darroch, Vicki Couzens and Debra Couzens were
inspired to revive the cloak-making tradition after seeing two 19th
century cloaks in 1999 at the Museum of Victoria.
This cloak was made by Treahna Hamm, a Yorta Yorta woman who lives
and works near the Murray River. The work features the Yorta Yorta
creation story of the Dhungula (Murray River). Making the cloak is a
detailed process. The possum skins (from New Zealand) are stitched
together using waxed cotton thread and the designs are then burnt
into the skin with a wood-burner. Ochre collected from the river has
been used in the designs on the cloak.
ANMM Collection
The River – Life on the Murray-Darling
Exhibition team:
Michael Crayford Assistant Director,
Collections and Exhibitions
Mariea Fisher
Team Leader
Michelle Linder Curator
Bill Seager
Senior Curator,
South Australian Maritime Museum
Megan Treharne Regional Collections Liaison Officer
John Waight
Indigenous Curator &
Liaison Officer
Analiese Treacy Conservator
Will Mather
Registrar
Cameron Krone Designer
Heidi Riederer
Graphic Designer
Liz Tomkinson
Marketing Officer
Osanna Moir
Visitor Programs Officer
Anita Toft
Visitor Programs Officer
Thank you to all who have assisted in the
development of this exhibition, through their
knowledge, advice and loans.
Murray River Renmark
South Australia 2004
Michael Bell Photographer
Reproduced courtesy Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Albury Regional Museum
Cooperative Research Centre for Irrigation Futures
CSIRO Land and Water Gallery
Hay Historical Society
Koorie Heritage Trust Melbourne
National Film and Sound Archive
New South Wales Fisheries
Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association
Treahna Hamm
Wentworth Historical Society
Yorta Yorta Elders Council
Lenders:
Annette Brown
Barmera National Trust Museum Barmera
Barbara (Barbie) Cornell
Corowa District Historical Society
Corowa Federation Museum
Deniliquin Historical Society
Department of Primary Industries Victoria
Echuca Historical Society
Elina Garreffa
Goolwa National Trust Museum
Griffith Pioneer Park Museum
Gundagai Historical Museum
Hay Gaol Museum
Hay Lions Football Fishing Competition Committee
Hay Shire Council
History Trust of South Australia
Loxton Historical Village
Mannum Dock Museum
Migration Museum of South Australia
Mildura & District Historical Society
Mildura Arts Centre
Morgan Museum
Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Museum of the Riverina Wagga Wagga
Narrandera Parkside Cottage Museum
‘Olivewood’ National Trust Museum Renmark
Peppin Heritage Centre Deniliquin
Stefano de Pieri
South Australian Department for Environment & Heritage
South Australian Maritime Museum
South Australian Water
Swan Reach Museum