When Ludwig Becker sketched Menindee hotel in 1860, there was little else of Menindee to sketch.

Even today, it is a small town with a population of about 400 people.

Ludwig Becker sketched a variety of scenes in and around Menindee including Paines Hotel:- Minindie [i.e. Menindee], The Depot Junction and a variety of other sketches such as scientific sketches of wildlife collected around their camp that are included in the Culture Victoria story The Art of Science.

In this video the history teacher at Menindee Central School, Robert Lindsay, tells us about Menindee, its special spirit and cultural heritage.

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TRANSCRIPT

When Becker did his sketch of the pub beside the Darling River, there was probably not much more in Menindee than that. A couple of sheds, perhaps. Menindee wasn't even considered as a town.

And in the 150 years since, Menindee has grown, but it's still a small town. It still only has two pubs and a couple of stores. It still remains isolated. It's 110 kilometers from Broken Hill. And it still thinks of itself as being a small, rural, isolated country town.

We have a central school, which caters for 105 pupils, and that runs from kindergarten to year 12. There's an enormous community spirit in this town, and when things happen, everybody gets involved.

[WHISTLE BLOWS]

[ALL SHOUTING AND GRUNTING WITH EFFORT]

[CHEERING]

[ALL SHOUTING AND GRUNTING WITH EFFORT]

-Come on, guys!

[LAUGHTER]

Our school has an enrollment of 75% Aboriginal pupils, and they're descendants of the Barkindji and Nyampa people who were living here at the time of Burke and Wills. The Barkindji people were living along the river and were the ones who greeted Burke and Wills.