Menindee (frequently but erroneously spelled "Menindie") is a small town in the far west of New South Wales, Australia, in Central Darling Shire, on the banks of the Darling River, with a sign-posted population of 980 and a population of 551. Menindee was the first town to be established on the Darling River. There are two distinct theories for the derivation of the township’s name: (a) from the Barkindji word "minandichi" for the shallow ephemeral lake north-west of the present-day township; (b) from the Barkindji word 'milhthaka', meaning "yolk of an egg". History Aboriginal occupation The Menindee district lies within the traditional lands of the Barkindji people, who occupied the area for at least 35,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. Aboriginal people became increasingly concentrated along the Darling River as the nearby Willandra Lakes system began to dry out after the last ice age 20,000 years ago. The area around present-day Menindee was a particularly productive region for Aboriginal occupation with its overflow lakes and channels in combination with the riverine environment. European exploration The first Europeans into the region was an exploring party led by Major Thomas Mitchell in 1835. The expedition had travelled down the Bogan and Darling rivers, intending to follow the course of the Darling to its junction with the Murray. Mitchell and his men encountered bouts of hostility from aboriginal groups as they progressed. In the area of the Menindee Lakes the expedition was subject to increasing confrontation from the native inhabitants and Mitchell decided it would be too dangerous to proceed and decided to turn back. Mitchell named the ephemeral lakes in the area 'Laidley's Chain of Ponds' after James Laidley, the Deputy Commissary-General of New South Wales. The Barkindji people called the lakes 'wontanella' meaning "many waters". An expedition led by Charles Sturt arrived at Laidley’s Ponds in October 1844, the initial stage of a series of explorations in Central Australia searching for the north-south watershed of the continent and an inland sea. The party established a base camp at Lake Cawndilla (south-west of present-day Menindee) and over two months made several scouting expeditions into and beyond the Barrier Range. In December 1844 Sturt’s party moved further north to the Grey Range, after which they undertook a number of exploratory trips into the dry interior, before returning to Adelaide in January 1846. European settlement The Darling Pastoral District between the Murrumbidgee and