Bin-ga (bailer shell)

Tool

Water carrier

In a country where there is no fresh running water, finding and carrying water was essential. Most inland sources of water had to be dug out. The strong and curvaceous structure of the bin-ga (bailer shell) was perfect for carrying freshwater, and for digging out muddy soaks. Finding soaks and jila is a skilled art, but the tell-tale signs of bin-ga fragments are proof of the existence of water. Bin-ga were traded across the desert and their fragments are still found around old water holes.

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Nyamba Buru Yawuru

This is the place of Yawuru

Representing the Yawuru people, the traditional owners of the country around Broome, Nyamba Buru Yawuru (NBY) is committed to a vision of mabu liyan, mabu buru, mabu ngarrangunil – Good liyan, (well...

Address:

55 Reid Road
Broome WA 6725
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9192 9600

Email:

yawuru@yawuru.org.au

Open Hours

Mon to Fri 8am - 4:30pm

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Jetty to Jetty sign

On the foreshore of Roebuck Bay

In the 1980s, as Broome was becoming a popular ‘beach destination' for tourists, the old pearling heritage of Broome was slowly disappearing. Nyamba Buru Yawuru decided to create a walking trail from...

Bugarrigarra jarndu (The water carrier) by Martha Lee

Creating water

In Bugarrigarra, all the Jila (water sources) in Yawuru country were created by this jarndu (woman). As she walked the country she carried her pin-ga (bailer shell) spilling drops of water here and...