Walgett’s Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) have picked up a prestigious lifetime achievement gong from the NSW Government for their contribution to NSW Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts.

DEG's Speaker Uncle Clem Dodd was presented with a bubarraa (fighting boomerang) after receiving the Outstanding Lifetime Contribution at The IMAGine Awards run by the ACHAA, the Aboriginal Culture, Heritage & Arts Association of NSW and part of NSW Museums and Galleries.

Uncle Clem Dodd has been the group’s speaker since 2014: Picture: Museums and Galleries NSW.

Steve Miller Aboriginal Programs Manager at Museums NSW told the Western Plains App that the contribution of DEG to the Walgett community should not under-estimated.

“They work in the community, they are involved in country, they have collated and maintain a display of cultural objects and take young people in the community to sites of cultural significance,” he said.

Sharing knowledge and culture: Members of the DEG on a NAIDOC field trip with students of Walgett High School. PHOTO SUPPLIED.

Mr Miller says the group works to protect Aboriginal cultural heritage through waterways, landscapes and the lived daily experience of their community.

ACHAA Board member Alison Williams said the DEG’s cultural collection is recognised as “nationally significant and contains knowledge that its members strive to share”.

“From their meeting place in the main street, the Elders operate Walgett’s first Aboriginal arts and crafts alongside their Keeping Place exhibition”.

"Uncle Clem Dodd joined DEG in 2011 and has served as its Speaker or Chair since the 2014 AGM.

"He is known and loved by all for his good humour, gentle manner and deep cultural and language knowledge which he is always generously willing to share” she said.

The DEG brings elders together in Walgett. PHOTO SUPPLIED.

DEG was born in November 2000 after Elders had worked together on projects since 1998.

The group takes its name from one of its sacred sites, Dharriwaa (Narran Lakes) which means common meeting place in Yuwaalaraay language.

Miller told the Western Plains App the Group’s heritage in the region dates back many thousands of years.