Those who knew the ancient lore
of lake and shore,
wove their rushes long before
the white man came.
Shallow baskets scooped up fish,
their staple dish;
winnowed grain with rhythmic swish,
till white man came.
With artistry they wove mats
where elders sat
in woven cloaks, shielding backs
from white man's claim.
In their weaving, each stitch told,
in every fold,
Dreamtime tales that earned the cold
white man's disdain.
With the coming of the cloud,
their wisdom cowed,
folded in each woven shroud,
to white man's shame.
Remaining reeds whisper soft
the grievous cost
of the weavers' wisdom lost
when white man came.
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Author Notes
The Ngarrindjeri people of Meningie, on the shores of Lake Albert, are renowned weavers of mats and baskets. They know where the best reeds grow, as well as when and how to cut and work them sustainably.
When we weave with the rushes, the memories of our loved ones are there, moulded into each stitch. It's not just weaving, but the stories we tell when we are doing it.
In the old days, baskets were made to scoop and carry fish and winnow grain. Mats were made to be worn, sat on, or used as back warmers. They were also folded to make coffins.
We were living in paradise here. We had weeds here for a mile out, fish by the million and ducks and birds of all descriptions. You could live off the land and the water
Early colonial pioneers settled around the lakes at the lower end of the Murray River in South Australia because of the supply of fresh water. They allowed their stock to graze right up to the water's edge, fouling the water and upsetting the balance of the ecosystem.
Within a few decades, over-use of water across the entire Murray-Darling basin threatened water quality at Meningie. Although locks and barrages were built in the 1930s, continued overuse of the river's water for unsustainable irrigation remains a critical concern.
Dredgers work 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, in an attempt to keep the river mouth open despite reduced flows. In drought years, it is a losing battle and salinity continues to devastate the flora and fauna of the lakes and of the river itself.
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