MUNGABAREENA ON THE MURRAY

[Maureen K Clifford]

MUNGABAREENA ON THE MURRAY

Maureen Clifford © The Scribbly Bark Poet


There’s a place along the Murray where the wild grey wood ducks wade,
and if you’re quiet - near the grassy river edge
in the shallows you’ll see platypi, scrabbling for yabbies fat ,
muddying the waters round the weed and sedge.

Mungabareena rests and waits beneath a clear blue sky.
Rainbow Bee Eaters hunt there on the wing
catching the unsuspecting, buzzing, pollen laden bees
that they beat to death on branches ‘fore they sting.

Mungabareena patiently waits as she has through time
beside the Murray , basking in the heat.
In November seven Koori tribes will gather here together
for the trip to Kiewa valley, their tribal meet and greet.

Mungabareena lazes as the river wanders by
for it knows that soon will come the time of feasting
on the Bogon moths that sleep in deep and cool and darkened caves
through summer heat. They’re protein rich and quite good eating.

The river here is pristine though ‘tis said the current’s strong
it runs deep and cold with a fierce undertow.
The lands traditional owners acknowledge the spirit
and only swim deep in the waters they respect and know.

And over time the elders of the tribe Wiradjuri
have helped to heal the scars caused to the earth by cattle,
replanting native trees, to help regenerate her soil
though at times that task appears an endless battle.

For the wetlands here at Mungab have been despoiled over time
but now the Red Gums have a chance to grow.
The ‘place of plenty talk’ most folks know as Mungabareena -
Yalmambirra will make strong again. His vision will make it so.


Footnote - Yalmambirra is a Wiradjuri man from Albury in southern NSW. In 2000 he began a crusade to revegetate and
rehabilitate 48 hectares of riverfront public reserve. The role of co-ordinating what became ‘The Mungabareena Reserve
– Wiradjuri Reconciliation Project’ proved a difficult and often thankless task, but Yalmambirra is not a man to walk away
from a challenge.

Having left school when he was 11 years old and wandering for 33 years in what he describes as an “educational
wilderness”, Yalmambirra enrolled at Charles Sturt University. At age 46 he graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Applied
Science (Park, Recreation & Heritage), and went on to complete a Class 1 Honours Degree. He is now doing a
PhD and is employed by the University as the Koorie Academic (Wiradjuri).