Barkindji interpretations provided by Kevin Knight and Wayne Knight.
Author's note: Henry Lawson, the poet, wrote a famous poem on the banks of the Darling River, ‘A Stranger on the Darling’. I’m a Barkindji person, the Darling is no stranger to me … and I am no stranger to her.
The Darling River is known to the Barkindji people as ‘Barka’—that is her name. She was made by the beautiful Rainbow Serpent. This poem is announcing that waterway with the Barkindji name of Barka.
Barkindji people love Barka, and we are not strangers to her.