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ARC Discovery Grant 2006-2008 DP 0666376
Chief investigator: Professor Margaret Somerville
This project is about water in the Murray-Darling Basin centred around the Narran Lakes, in the dry lands of western New South Wales. The Narran Lake is an icon or signature site in the complex water connections across the Murray-Darling Basin. It is located between the Condamine/Balonne catchment in Queensland and the Darling River system, which flows into the Murray in Victoria and South Australia. The Ramsar listing of the Narran Lakes recognises the international significance of the area as a wetlands, a breeding and resting place for migratory birds. The main lake, however, is surrounded and contained by private property, invisible except for a sign on the road to Brewarrina that announces its importance as a habitat for migratory birds. The water flow to the Lakes has diminished, the Lake system is cropped and grazed, and the main Lake area is not accessible to its Aboriginal custodians.
Bubbles on the surface came from our worrying for country. While the environmental degradation of the Murray River is well known, the focus has been largely on the Murray River itself. The Murray River is part of a whole system of waterways and the health of the river is dependent on the health of the whole system. This includes rivers, creeks, lakes, and billabongs, underground and surface water and all of the connections between them. The project began with conversations between a black woman and a white woman, mediated by their love of country. Chrissiejoy Marshall grew up on the Narran Lake and now lives in Sydney and Margaret Somerville grew up in Sydney, and moved to Armidale on the eastern edge of the Murray Darling Basin. In 2005 we began a small project to record some of Chrissiejoy’s stories about the Lake.
In 2006 an expanded version of the project was funded by the Australian Research Council and we were joined by Daphne Wallace, Lorina Barker, Badger Bates and Phoenix de Carteret. Daphne, Lorina and Badger are Aboriginal artists and researchers who are affiliated with the various language groups who share an interest in the country around the Narran Lakes. Daphne Wallace is a Gamaroi/Ullaroi artist who comes from Lightening Ridge. Lorina Barker, is a Muruwari/Wangkumara woman and an Aboriginal academic. She grew up at Weilmoringle, on the Culgoa River, west of the Narran Lake. Badger Bates, a visual artist and sculptor, is a Paakantji man born on the Darling River at Willcannia. Phoenix de Carteret joined us as a Research Fellow working on the project. In 2008 Yorta Yorta woman Treahna Hamm brought stories and artworks from the Murray into the project.
Like bubbles on the surface the project moves out from the lake as centre to the surrounding country and bodies of water. We are now moving from the Narran Lakes down the Darling towards the Murray. All these places, their stories and the connections they create between people and place tell us how to live in country.
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Margaret Somerville and Badger Bates
Margaret Somerville and Chrissiejoy Marshall
 Chrissiejoy Marshall at Narran Lake September 2006
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