What was once one of the largest inland ports in New South Wales now sits on the banks of a dry Darling River.

While there is not a lot in the way of agricultural activity in Wilcannia anymore, the river has always been central to life in the remote town, as a source of food, and social and cultural activities.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 30 seconds 4 m 30 s Murray Butcher talks about the role of the Darling River in Barkindji culture ( Aimee Volkofsky ) Download 2.1 MB

Most of the population of around 600 are Barkindji.

The term translates literally to "people of the river".

Murray Butcher is a Barkindji man who has lived most of his life on the river, and he is determined to have its importance recognised.

"This river system is a very important river system for the whole of western New South Wales, not just economically but spiritually," he said.

"Our river is just about on the brink of dying.

"We have cultures on this river that have been here for thousands and thousands of years, cultures that have been obliterated by government decisions and mismanagement.

"Because of the decisions they are making, we are the people that are suffering.

"Us Barkindji people, us Murrawarri people, us Yuwalaaray people; all those people that belong to the river."

Barkindji man Murray Butcher says most of his people have been able to retain strong links to their country. ( ABC Rural: Aimee Volkofsky )

The Barkindji are one of the few Indigenous Australian groups that have managed to stay physically connected to their land throughout colonisation and assimilation.

While they were still put on missions and used for cheap labour, the remoteness of Wilcannia meant they were able to stay close to the "Barka", or Darling River.

"We've been lucky as Barkindji people in that most of us have been able to remain in our country and maintain our links to our country, our families, our story, our culture, and that is still strong today," Mr Butcher said.

"We may have got dispersed, but we were still able to live and survive in our own country."

The river has been central to that survival, but right now, it is all but completely dry.

Drought in the north, and what some say is over-allocation to irrigation upstream, has seen the river reduced to a trickle.

Local man Jason Kirby said it was having a massive impact on life in Wilcannia.

"The river means a lot to me and my family. It's the only thing that kept us alive in the years," he said.

"Now it's down and they're taking everything. We're hardly getting any fish. It's very hard these days.

"The water is very precious to us. Without water we've got no food, nothing."

The Darling River at Wilcannia in May 2016. The markers show past flood levels. ( ABC Rural: Aimee Volkofsky )

At the beginning of the month a contingent of mostly Indigenous representatives from Wilcannia and Menindee went on a mission to Canberra to lobby politicians for changes to water management.

Member for Parkes Mark Coulton agreed to write a letter to Parliament on the group's behalf, but Mr Butcher was sceptical about what impact the letter would have.

"I'm not hopeful at all. A lot of things that were discussed at the meeting were not included in that letter," he said.

"He never talked about how it is having an impact on the local economies of our region, how it has virtually killed Menindee, how it is impacting on graziers and householders."

Mr Coulton responded to that criticism, saying he was open to suggestions for changing the letter.

"If they're not happy with the letter I'd be happy to amend it," he said.

"I didn't offer a solution [in the letter]. I thought I had identified the situation as they raised it with me."

Mr Barker said that was not enough.

"We wanted action. We went down there to demand change in how the Government is managing our river," he said.

"The Government need to recognise that this river is not just here for an economic base for those people upstream and downstream of us."