Time for a little history lesson. This is part of Australian history that is rarely (if at all) taught in schools. Unless you are a local of the Gundagai area in New South Wales, you’ve probably never even heard of Yarri. During the major floods in the year 1852, dozens of settlers from the Gundagai town were saved by two Wiradjuri men in simple bark canoes. Yarri, who was later joined by Jacky Jacky, over two days, paddled their canoes back and forth along the swollen Murrumbidgee river looking for surviviors.
In the early days of the Gundagai settlement, the local aboriginal people tried to warn the European settlers of the danger of building on the plain near to the river. The settlers ignored the warning. When the floods eventually happened, it was the Wiradjuri people that came to their rescue.
Today the flood plain is now named after Yarri, and there are a number of monuments to honour him within the town of Gundagai, which was later rebuilt on higher ground. You can read the whole story here Yarri – A Frontier Story
