Barababaraba

The Barababaraba people (also spelt Barapabarapa) are an indigenous Australian people whose territory covered parts of southern New South Wales and northern Victoria. They had close connections with the Wemba Wemba.

R. H. Mathews wrote an early sketch of the grammar of the Barababaraba language, and stated that one dialect at least existed, spoken on the Murray River near Swan Hill.

Barababaraba territory, which covered areas in what are now the states of New South Wales and Victoria, is estimated to have been some of land, southern tributaries of the Murrumbidgee River from above Hay down to Kerang. One early source also has them, perhaps a distinct horde, present in Moulamein. It included Cohuna, Gunbower, Brassi, Conargo, and the land south of Carrathool. Deniliquin Their neighbours to the north west were the Wemba Wemba, the Wergaia frontier was directly to the west, the Yorta Yorta boundaries ran north and south to their east. The Dja Dja Wurrung lay to the south.

The Barababaraba were one of the Murray River Wongal-chewing groups: wangul bulrushes were chewed both for the tuberous pith and for the fibrous cortex which was torn away to obtain the latter. The fibre was conserved to make strings for fashioning nets and bags.