Brewarrina and the deadly singers behind MINYAN NGABANGKA

MINYAN NGABANGKA was written by DOBBY, Kelsey Iris, and children from Brewarrina. 

DOBBY is a proud Filipino and Murrawarri man whose roots run deep in the Aboriginal lands of Brewarrina and Weilmoringle in NSW. 

Kelsey Iris is a proud First Nation's Woman belonging to the Murrawarri, Yuwaalaraay, Gamilaroi & Wiradjuri tribes. Her connection to Country is home on the murillas (ridges) on Yuwaalaraay Country and where the Barwon and Culgoa rivers flow.

WHERE IS BREWARRINA?

Brewarrina is a remote Community on the banks of the Baawan/Bama River in northwest NSW, home to the Ngemba people. It sits 800 kilometres southwest of Brisbane and 800 kilometres northwest of Sydney.

Brewarrina is home to the Ngemba people and is a meeting place for the bordering and nearby tribes. 

You may know of this town through their historic Baiame’s Nghunnhu (Fish Traps). These fish traps are estimated to be over 40,000 years old – making them the world’s oldest manmade structure. This demonstrates the local Aboriginal Community’s unbroken, deep and expansive connection to the river and Country, for over 2,000 generations.

The ILF is extremely honoured to have the 2026 Busking For Change song recorded in and about the beautiful Community of Brewarrina, and their connection with the Baawan/Bama River. 

“It’s a great honour to host Busking For Change 2026 in Brewarrina. It’s an honour for me as my family’s from here, but I am also really excited for all the schools to be learning one of the languages from here in Brewarrina NSW. I hope all the schools around Australia enjoy and sing along with us to MINYAN NGABANGKA - what’s in the water.” – ILF Ambassador DOBBY.

WHAT IS THE BUSKING FOR CHANGE 2026 SONG?

The Busking For Change (BFC) 2026 song titled MINYAN NGABANGKA. Minyan means “what” and Ngabangka means “in the water.” The song translates to “what’s in the water”.

It was created by ILF Ambassador DOBBY, a proud Filipino and Murrawarri man whose roots run deep in the Aboriginal lands of Brewarrina and Weilmoringle in NSW, and Kelsey Iris, a Murrawarri, Yuwaalaraay, Gamilaroi and Wiradjuri woman, and kids from Brewarrina.

“The song is MINYAN NGABANGKA because this Community and these kids are so deadly we were like 'what’s in the water!'. And then it’s all connected. Our water is life, and it just means so much to us mob here that are from the rivers” explains Kelsey.

This play on words is also a tribute to the Communities deep historical and cultural connections to the River, and about how the River is a central part of Community life for the children who live here.

Learning this song will also teach you words in Murrawarri, one of the local languages of the region.

It is the hope of DOBBY and Kelsey that this song will enable and encourage schools around the nation to celebrate Aboriginal language, storytelling, and connection to Country.

‍“We know that literacy is a really fundamental and important part of all of our lives, especially for children. Language has to be a part of that. Language is so critical and important to our young people, to our kids, and it’s so important that children are speaking and celebrating language every day. So this is why incorporating language into this song has been really special. We hope that we can continue to do this for our future generations and that we revitalise language so that it is fluent in our Communities.” – Kelsey Iris.

DOBBY and Kelsey worked with Elders and local Knowledge Holders, including Aunty Missy, to create a song that celebrates the Community’s continued connection to Country, their language, and the lives of children living in Brewarrina.

“Its really important that we keep our languages alive. Through song, there’s so much that we can do to achieve this. And a song like this, MINYAN NGABANGKA, means what’s in the water. So it really excites me that not only all the kids around the country can be singing language, it’s also getting our language up here locally.” – DOBBY.

MURRAWARRI WORDS YOU'LL LEARN IN THE SONG

• Baiame - Creator Spirit who built the fish traps  
• Ngunnhu - Fish Trap
• Baiame’s Ngunnhu - Baiame’s Fish Traps
• Minyan Ngabangka - What’s in the water

COLLABORATORS AND CONTRIBUTORS

The ILF would like to thank the following contributors for their time, energy, knowledge and dedication to this project. 

DOBBY, Kelsey Iris, Stephen Wilson Barker, Aunty Missy for her cultural consultation and collaboration, Bradley Hardey and the Brewarrina Cultural Museum for his contributions to this project and cultural/language knowledge, and of course, the kids of Brewarrina.

If you're a school, workplace, early learning centre or any other group of people passionate about having fun and celebrating Blak excellence, we encourage you to registrer for Busking For Change 2026.