Urayne Warraweena is one of the Western Plains App's newest recruits and brings with her a strong commitment to her hometown of Brewarrina and its people.

“My great great grandfather was born on Warraweena station at Bourke and so we took on the name. Our tribe the Baranbinja people have a long history in the area and were sadly part of the 1859 Hospital Creek Massacre tribe, so we have lived and died here, and I am passionate about my culture, history and love for this town,” said Urayne.

As a young child Urayne and her brother were raised by her Aunty and Uncle and with a complicated family dynamic, but she made her way and is now the proud mother of six children from the ages of eighteen to three years.

Urayne has lived in many parts of NSW but always found her way back to where she felt most at home.

“My mother gave us up when we were young, and my first relationship ended due to domestic violence," she said. "Throughout all of this I have developed an empathy and understanding of issues within my community."

“I currently work at the Brewarrina Local Aboriginal Lands Council (LALC) and am excited at the prospects we have for change. Despite having worked in Community Services for years, this position will help me to achieve my end goal of improving life for Indigenous people in our town.”

Urayne is proud mum to six children aged from three to eighteen years.

“Our hope is to upskill the young people of Brewarrina and district by teaching them new skills and giving them access to knowledge that will allow them to become the best people they can be,” she said.

“We are blessed to have an amazing Council, in Brewarrina Shire Council, who are working hard to improve life for its residents. Brewarrrina has the highest indigenous employment rate in Australia at 75% and despite being named as one of the most disadvantaged towns in Australia on two occasions, we are now building a town we can be proud of.”

During Covid Urayne had the chance to delve into her passion for Aboriginal Art and now sells her works within the community and beyond.

“I always loved Aboriginal art but had never really had the time to delve into it. When COVID hit I started on a few works and found I loved it. I started a Facebook page and its grown organically from there.”

“Sometimes when life has been hard – art has been good for me. Living back in Brewarrina has made me feel whole again and my artwork is just a bonus.”

Urayne manages to find time for her art.

“I am really excited to be working for the App and promoting Brewarrina,” said Urayne. “I love editing and creating videos and archiving my aboriginal heritage. I love sharing our culture and talking to people about our town.”

A couple of months ago Urayne was visiting Coonamble for a podcasting workshop and it led to a chance meeting with The Western Plains App owner and editor Lee O’Connor.

“We'd been trying for a while to find a reporter for the Brewarrina area," said Mrs O’Connor. "I met Urayne and was really impressed with her enthusiasm for her local community, her bubbly personality and her deep interest in unearthing local stories."

“Urayne is already working as Media Officer with the Brewarrina Local Aboriginal Land Council but was keen to get involved with the app so now we have an arrangement with the LALC where Urayne works casually for us and hones her media skills along the way.”

“I'm really excited about this because I love collaborating and developing local talent, and this is an innovative way of approaching some of the workforce issues we all face in small communities. It's amazing what you can do with a little imagination and a dose of goodwill.”

“We can provide training and support for Urayne on the media side and our readers get stories from around the Brewarrina area that they might never see anywhere else. It's a win/win/win and we're loving having Urayne on board with the app.”

“I look forward to bringing everyone stories from my area and I thank Lee for this wonderful opportunity," Urayne said.

“If anyone wants to try something similar in some of the other towns the app covers, we'd love to hear from them," said Mrs O’Connor.