Video: Aboriginal Elder Beryl Carmichael Sings the River’s Lament

Using chants and stories, Aboriginal elder Beryl Carmichael shares with Circle of Blue the spiritual and visceral pain of a dry and dying Darling River.  

She tells of the social and cultural price its disease visits on her people. Carmichael has spent seven decades living near the river. She speaks from her home — the town of Menindee, New South Wales. The river is suffering because it is over governed, she says. Beyond song, there remains little else she and her people have been able to do to change that.

Video by Aaron Jaffe, reach him at info@circlefofblue.org. For a complete list of credits, acknowledgements and other resources related to Circle of Blue’s coverage of “The Biggest Dry” please click here.