"I got a phone call from one of my sisters and she’s telling me that the animals are going into town looking for water and also the birds are dropping. It’s green, there’s no flow through it."
Maria Wilson and her family grew up on the Barka (Darling River) and her grandfather's story is an important part of their cultural history.
Barkandji man Hero Black was a king of the Barka (Darling River).
Maria says he had half of a moon on him to tell he was the king of the river, of the river people.
She says "He had to take care of the people of the river. So when the Aboriginal people all lived on stations they must have called grandfather up to sort something out. He played a big role in Wilcannia for the Aboriginal people there."
This is why Maria Wilson contacted NITV Radio, she says she has no cultural rights over the health of the water at Wilcannia and her grandfather would want her to fight for the river and bring back the water to country.
"We fish, we cook, we teach our little ones about what the fish is what the yabbie's is. What water snakes and lizards and all those things that the young people learn about. Also the land and how to take care of it."
Maria says "I got a phone call from one of my sister's and she’s telling me that the animals are going into town looking for water and also the birds are dropping."
"The dogs are getting sick and some of the children. Apparently they don’t know how to use their water to wash their face or their clothes or wash the washing up. This is what’s going on with the old river.
People don’t know it’s that low. It’s sad and the people don’t know. It’s green, there’s no flow through it."
Speaking on what cultural flow would look like for her children and grandchildren Maria says, "When I take my grandchildren home and my children we go camping on the river bank, we camp there."
We fish, we cook, we teach our little ones about what the fish is what the yabbie's is. What water snakes and lizards and all those things that the young people learn about. Also the land and how to take care of it."
Maria and her son William are saddened by the news of an Independent investigation into NSW Water management compliance which was sparked by the ABC Four Corners Episode of Pumped.
For the Wilson's of the Barka (Darling River), Wilcannia was once a beautiful place where they come from.
Today there's no water flow which means no cultural flow and they have questions to ask on where did the water go?
