Title
Murray: Oral History of Wally Cooper and Pat Larkin
Description
An interview in five parts with Wally Cooper, a Moitheriban man, and Pat Larkin.
Wally talks about traditional fishing, fishing women, tickling fish, fishing with spears, hand lines, baiting, canoe fishing and diving for Crayfish. He also mentions cross lining and the use of drum nets in floodwaters. He marvels at the dexterity and play habits of water rats, and reflects on their scarcity. He discusses their history of being hunted, skinned, exported, and in some cases, eaten; He says it is customary that only male elders eat water rats and use their skins (men's-business).
Of the river, Wally and Pat discuss sustainable fishing practices, and talk at length about the Basin's wider management. They consider local agriculture, irrigation, habitat management, water allocation, floods, droughts, pests, weeds, silviculture, as well as the rivers' recreational and fish industries.
Wally and Pat refer to a chemical era, when DDT and Dieldrin were used as a pesticide on vinyards and Tobacco crops along the River. They talk about the chemicals, their effects on native fish, the contamination of farmland, and the ecological footprint of Tobacco growing itself.
Mention of Moira Forest, King River, Ovens River, Glenrowan, Yielima Station, Barmah Forest, Yarrawonga, Echuca, Nathalia, Barmah Lake, Wodonga, Oxley, Docker, Wangaratta, Fifteen Mile Creek, Mokoan, Hume Weir, Mulwala Weir, Namoi River, Lake Cargelligo, Broken River, Rose River, Lake Buffalo, Goulbourn River, Upper Murrumbidgee River, Warby Ranges, Swan Hill, Moira Station, LaTrobe Valley, Charlton.
Mentioned: silver bream, mountain galaxias, cormorant, worms, Bardi Grubs, platypus, water rat, white mussel, black mussel, swan, mice, tiger snakes, frog, foxes, cats, pigs, rabbits.
Plant life mentioned: Red gum, willows, bottlebrush. blackboys, tobacco, cotton, St. John's Wort, blackberries, grey box, kabungi, water hyacinths, blue gum.
Also mentioned: Flemington; Barmah Muster; River Improvement Trust; Department of Sustainability and Environment; Rex Hunt; Erni Briggs; Charlie Carp; the huge influx of silver perch in either 1954 or 1957; the changing structure of the river influenced by the removal of snags and willows.
Wally talks about traditional fishing, fishing women, tickling fish, fishing with spears, hand lines, baiting, canoe fishing and diving for Crayfish. He also mentions cross lining and the use of drum nets in floodwaters. He marvels at the dexterity and play habits of water rats, and reflects on their scarcity. He discusses their history of being hunted, skinned, exported, and in some cases, eaten; He says it is customary that only male elders eat water rats and use their skins (men's-business).
Of the river, Wally and Pat discuss sustainable fishing practices, and talk at length about the Basin's wider management. They consider local agriculture, irrigation, habitat management, water allocation, floods, droughts, pests, weeds, silviculture, as well as the rivers' recreational and fish industries.
Wally and Pat refer to a chemical era, when DDT and Dieldrin were used as a pesticide on vinyards and Tobacco crops along the River. They talk about the chemicals, their effects on native fish, the contamination of farmland, and the ecological footprint of Tobacco growing itself.
Mention of Moira Forest, King River, Ovens River, Glenrowan, Yielima Station, Barmah Forest, Yarrawonga, Echuca, Nathalia, Barmah Lake, Wodonga, Oxley, Docker, Wangaratta, Fifteen Mile Creek, Mokoan, Hume Weir, Mulwala Weir, Namoi River, Lake Cargelligo, Broken River, Rose River, Lake Buffalo, Goulbourn River, Upper Murrumbidgee River, Warby Ranges, Swan Hill, Moira Station, LaTrobe Valley, Charlton.
Mentioned: silver bream, mountain galaxias, cormorant, worms, Bardi Grubs, platypus, water rat, white mussel, black mussel, swan, mice, tiger snakes, frog, foxes, cats, pigs, rabbits.
Plant life mentioned: Red gum, willows, bottlebrush. blackboys, tobacco, cotton, St. John's Wort, blackberries, grey box, kabungi, water hyacinths, blue gum.
Also mentioned: Flemington; Barmah Muster; River Improvement Trust; Department of Sustainability and Environment; Rex Hunt; Erni Briggs; Charlie Carp; the huge influx of silver perch in either 1954 or 1957; the changing structure of the river influenced by the removal of snags and willows.
Creator
Heather Goodall
Jodi Frawley
Publisher
University of Technology, Sydney
Contributor
Murray-Darling Basin Authority
NSW Department of Primary Industries - NSW Fisheries
Rights
Copyright University of Technology, Sydney
Date
2010-11-23
Access Rights
Open access
License
Interviewer
Jodi Frawley
Interviewee
Wally Cooper
Pat Larkin
Location
Ovens, Victoria, Australia
Duration
Part 1 00:02:58
Part 2 00:20:50
Part 3 00:22:38
Part 4 00:21:07
Item Relations
| This Item | Is Part Of |
Item: Mainstem Murray River |
| This Item | Was Created By |
Item: Prof. Heather Goodall Item: Dr Jodi Frawley |
| This Item | Has Provenance Information |
Item: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA) Item: State Library of New South Wales |
| This Item | References The Subject |
Item: Trout Cod Item: Redfin |
Position: 74 (115 views)