Still More of Wagga Region Tour in 1990s

Here Charlie is telling us an incredible story about a place called Murdering Island
in the Murrumbidgee River - a major tributary of the Murray River.
The recorded story says that aboriginals were shot there by early settlers
to keep them away from farming land settlers wanted by the Murrumbidgee.
(One official story is HERE)
But Charlie's story said most were driven there and also died of starvation.
They were only shot if they tried to escape - and many did try.


A view of the Murrumbidgee River near where Charlie was telling his story.
It was next to impossible to photograph the island because it just seemed to blend into the other river bank.
Charlie said that the river level was higher and it flowed faster in early colonial days.


And all the while a large herd of cattle quietly watched us.

Wagga Region Tour in the 1990s

In the 1990s, when I was teaching in New South Wales,
another teacher - Susan McCarthy - and I took a small group of Aboriginal Studies students
to Wagga for a field trip.
Our guide was a Wiradjuri aboriginal based in Wagga.
His name was Charlie.
He took us round the Wagga region to areas used by the aboriginal people in past times.
One was this amazing tree - carefully carved to make a canoe by the Murrumbidgee River.


Charlie took the first photo for us and, in the above photo, he appears on the far right.
All he asked for payment was to be collected in our mini bus and to be given lunch.
At first, the girls only agreed to the trip because "they had nothing better to do" for the holidays.
By the end of the journey, they were excited about all the special places Charlie had shown them.
They said it was an unforgettable memory for them.