ABOUT

Michael Eckford aka Michael ‘Ghillar’ Anderson

‘Ghillar’ is my Aboriginal name. I was born in 1951 in north-west New South Wales in the township Brewarrina on the Barwon River.

Ngaiyher ngumboonghar Euahlayi nyoongarburrah inar. “My mother is a woman of the ‘Nyoongar Dthaurhee-ngu‘ (country where the Kurrajong tree grows) and her nation is the Euahlayi.”

Her mother’s country is the ‘Morellas‘ (Stoney Ridges) from Angeldool down to the bottom of the Narran Lakes. Her white family name is Eckford and in 1957 she married Gilbert Anderson and I have used this name ever since despite being registered as Michael Eckford.

My matriarchal grandmother is a woman of the ‘Bibblhar-Billar’ which adjoins the ‘Morellas‘ (Stoney Ridges) on the western side of the Narran Lakes stretching to the northern side of the Barwon River at my birthplace, Brewarrina.

Ngaiyher Boydjarool Gumilaroi Ghurriburrah Dthane. “My father is a man of the country where the native orchid grows which is within the Gumilaroi nation.”

About Michael Eckford (aka Michael Anderson)
Culture
Biography – growing up
My wife Jutta
Farmlife
Committee memberships