Brewarinna fish traps

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Brewarrina fish traps overgrown with reeds
Brewarrina fish traps in the left foreground, above is a concrete wall

The Brewarrina fish traps (English: Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps , also: Baiames Ngunnhu ) are located in the town of Brewarrina on the Barwon River in the north of the Australian state of New South Wales , about 800 km northwest of Sydney . It is the largest known Aboriginal fish trap system in Australia.

The fish traps are said to be 40,000 years old, are about 500 m long and were located on the territory of the Ngunnhu Aborigines. They consisted of numerous small individual stone circles that could be separated by stone weirs. The fish were led there so that they could be caught. The design, complexity and size of the facility are unique in Australia and it is a national monument.

Before the European settlement, the Aborigines used the river for fishing. Stones were removed from the river by the settlers to allow paddle steamers to travel, and rocks were removed in the 1920s to be used for house foundations and roads. The steamships could not sail in the dry season.

The Ngunnhu had strong social, cultural and spiritual relationships with other Aboriginal tribes and clans, and they also allowed other tribes to fish according to rules, times and periods. They were associated with the Aborigines of the Kamilaroi , Marowari, Paarkinji, Weilwan, Barbinja and Ualaria. The neighboring tribes were invited by Ngunnhu to cooroborees , ceremonies, initiations, trade and barter.

The Ngunnhu attribute the possibility of fishing to the mythical Baiame , a dreamtime creature who created the landscape, lakes, rivers and beings.

The plant is partly overgrown by reeds. The fish ladder was entered on the Australian National Heritage List on June 3, 2005 , as it was of particular historical importance for the social and cultural coexistence within the Aboriginal tribes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ breshire.com ( Memento of 29 September 2011 at the Internet Archive ): Brewarrina Shire Council , in English, accessed 6 October 2011
  2. ↑ environment.gov.au ( Memento from June 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 608 kB): Brewarrinna Aboriginal Fish Traps , in English, accessed on October 6, 2011

Coordinates: 29 ° 57 ′ 30.7 ″  S , 146 ° 51 ′ 20.2 ″  E