Sarah Martin, archaeologist, Wilcannia News
A project documenting Barkandji knowledge of the Baaka river and floodplains has been ongoing for about 6 months. It has included a large oral history project which collected knowledge from Barkandji and kin about fish traps, fishing, the floodplains, and how they have changed so much over the last few decades. It also included visiting and recording rock bars and remnants of stone fish traps and maintaining the old fish traps at The Strip Station, Wilcannia.
Oral history collected from Amelia Whyman indicated that that Darling River Snail may still be living on the Wilcannia weir rocks. This snail is critically endangered and thought to be extinct in the natural habitat of the Baaka, only known to be living in irrigation pipes on the Lower Darling.
After Amelia gave her evidence, Michael Kennedy went into the weir rocks and looked for snails, finding several. The next week a larger group working on the project, Michael Kennedy, Badger Bates, David Bates, Leetisha Jones, Derek Kerwin and Brandon Blair, all looked for snails amongst the rocks. They found a lot of snails in the fast water, living on the rocks that have a biofilm that the snails can feed on. One group of snails ranged from large to small sizes, indicated that they were breeding at the weir. We sent photos of the snails at the weir to Professor Fran Sheldon, Head of School, School of Environmental Science, Griffith University, and she identified them as Darling River Snail.
The group also looked for snails at other locations and found several shells at The Strip amongst the rocks in the middle of the river, indicating that the snails had also been living there recently.
This is such important research carried out by the community. It shows that the Baaka must keep flowing with fresh clean water, so animals and plants continue to live and thrive in it. It also shows that the weirs with rock aprons and natural rock outcrops in the river are important habitat for snails and many other animals. By looking at shell middens along the Baaka we know that the snails used to be common and were used by Barkandji people as food and as bait for fishing. Some of the people interviewed remembered eating snails or using them for bait. They are one of many important species for Barkandji people that have nearly disappeared from the river, like catfish, black bream and mussels.
This article appeared in Wilcannia News, 13 May 2025.
