BAIAME'S NGUNNHI
NATIONAL HERITAGE-LISTED BREWARRINA ABORIGINAL FISH TRAPS

Step into 40,000 years of living culture at Baiame’s Ngunnhu – the remarkable National Heritage-listed Fish Traps in the heart of Brewarrina. Believed to be the oldest known human construction, these traps are still in use today, showcasing the ingenuity of local First Nations people.

Dreaming stories tell us the traps were built by the ancestral creator Baiame and his sons Boorna Ooma-Nowi and GhindaInda-Mui, who shaped them by casting Baiame’s net across the river.

While the Ngemba people are custodians of the fishery, it is said Baiame commanded the traps be shared with other tribes and the area was one of the great meeting places for many nations, including the Morawari, Barkinji, Weilwan, Kamilaroi, Koamu, Valarai, Baranbinja, Wiradjuri, Ngemba and Yualwarri peoples who gathered here for food, ceremonies, trade and work.

The traps remain a place of deep cultural, spiritual and social significance for First Nations communities.

Discover more with a tour by the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum, or take a self-guided 2.4-kilometre River Walk connecting the traps with the Ochre Beds and camping reserves along the Barwon River.