Menindee's Indigenous community fears heritage sites could be lost in floods

Speaking on behalf of the Baarkindji community in Menindee, Michelle Kelly said they have urgently informed officials of Water NSW and the NSW Department of Environment to help protect the sacred sites, mainly burial sites and artefacts, representing a part of their heritage in the far west.

A map of identified burial sites, hearths, location of scarred trees, shell deposits, smoking ceremony sites, dreaming sites, and stone arrangements around Cawndilla Lake, one of the 12 smaller lakes comprising Menindee Lakes' dam area has been shown to ACM by the elders.

According to Water NSW the Menindee Lakes dam storage area consists of four main lakes such as Cawndilla, Pamamaroo, Wetherell and Menindee, along with other smaller lakes carrying around 1,731,000 megalitres of water.

Mrs Kelly is one of the nine directors of the Menindee Local Aboriginal Land Council (MLALC) that consulted Water NSW on Wednesday about the locations of the sacred sites so that the Local Emergency Management Committee knows they need to be protected.

Mrs Kelly said the Aboriginal Heritage unit of the Department of Planning and Environment and the National Parks and Wildlife Service had documented the map showing the remnants of their ancestors to be preserved as part of the heritage conservation planning in the far west.

Most Indigenous residents in Menindee belong to the Paarkantyi, or Baarkindji, people, Mrs Kelly said.

She said they are protecting the billabongs, the Darling River, and the Menindee Lakes, particularly Lake Cawndilla where the heritage sites are mostly found.

"We have identified at least 30 burial sites, artefacts, hearths, scarred trees and shell deposits around Lake Cawndilla which has massive cultural significance to the Indigenous community here," Mrs Kelly said.

"It's highly likely the floodwater can get to them because we can't control where the floodwater is flowing. Our frustration is about the lack of communication with us, that we don't know who are the people making decisions."

The Baarkindji elders have asked the Central Darling Shire Council's Local Emergency Management Committee to be represented at the committee so they could be assured their heritage sites could be saved from being washed away by floodwater.

Mrs Kelly said they also asked for more detailed information on evacuation for many families residing along the Darling River and many have decided to stay to protect their properties.

"We had about 15 families that moved out but some are there staying and hoping the levee bank would hold up and watching the peak of floodwater coming through," Mrs Kelly said.

"Our people are fishing again and there are plenty of fish and yabbies, but it's dangerous to do that at the moment with flooding.

"The emergency committee should be engaging with us because we are the people who live along the river and we want to check the water level so we can be prepared.

"They are not maintaining the community notice board which is not only for the information of the Indigenous community but all the rest in the community affected by this flood."

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The Menindee LALC operates the Darling River Supermarket, the only grocery shop in the township, which provide food and household supplies coming in from Adelaide and Broken Hill.

"The land council is helping the food supply to the RFS and SES staff on the ground but our main concern is to be part of the emergency plan meeting," Mrs Kelly added.

Mrs Kelly said they should be represented in the emergency committee because up to least 80 percent of the township's 550 population are Indigenous whose ancestors had lived in the area.

A Water NSW spokesman has confirmed the Indigenous elders have consulted them about the sacred sites around Cawndilla Lake and they are discussing the situation with them.

"Water NSW is carefully managing storage levels in the lakes and we want to reassure the community we are doing all we can to prevent water reaching the level where those sites and artefacts will be inundated and impacted," the spokesman said.

"Water NSW acknowledges the very strong cultural and spiritual connection of Aboriginal communities to the lands, waters and rivers that we live and work on and we are committed to improving how we engage with First Nations people across all aspects of our operations."