First Languages Australia

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

Little Wave Rock is a gathering place that harbours the history and secrets of Gamilaraay ancestors. Gamilaraay woman Loren Ryan discusses her connection to Country and the importance of paying respects at this sacred place.

First Languages Australia short with Michael Jarrett speaking Gumbaynggirr.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Mandy Nicholson speaking Woiwurrung.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Steven Coghill speaking about the Yuggera language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Leanne Pope speaking about the Wakka Wakka language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Annalee Pope talking in Waka Waka language.

First Languages Australia short with Ken Smith speaking about the Kokatha language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Jeff Chesters speaking about the Jarowair language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Jack Johncock speaking about the Wirangu Kokatha language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Fay Stewart-Muir about learning Boonwurrung language.

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

The mountain Balgan, otherwise known as Pigeon House Mountain, is a sacred place from which many stories come from. This dreamtime story is from the Budawang people, one of the thirteen kinship groups in the Yuin area that speak the Dhurga language.

Mother Tongue series: Head Shoulders Knees and Toes

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

Gomeroi man Gavi Duncan explains the significance of Bulgandry, a sacred Indigenous art site. Situated in the Brisbane Water National Park, Bulgandry is home to rock carvings depicting the story of Baiyami, the creator.

The 'This Place' project invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it.

First Languages Australia short with Michael Hill speaking about the Gurang language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

Binbi Wadyabay: Queensland Indigenous Languages Forum – Rockhampton 2018

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Gail Harradine speaking Wergaia.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Corey Theatre speaking Gunditjmara.

This video is from a series of videos produced by First Languages Australia that originally appeared on the Gambay Languages map. The map can be viewed at https://gambay.com.au/

First Languages Australia short with Des Crump speaking about the Kamilaroi language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Emma Richards speaking about the Barngarla language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Con Miller speaking about the Wirangu language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

For tens of thousands of years, the rich and beautiful sounds of thousands of languages washed across this earth.
Over all of Australia it is believed there were more than five hundred at one time. Around two hundred years ago, a new language began to replace them, sweeping across Australia with such force that some parts of it could no longer hear the voices that told its stories and held its secrets.
A deep silence seemed to be looming.
Then, finally, a change began. As the volume of the old words faded to a whisper in some places, the people who are their custodians began to take action, calling for respect, for the rights to speak and be heard in their traditional tongues, while stirring everyone to appreciate the treasury of knowledge held in their languages.
The Queensland Indigenous Languages Advisory Committee was formed in 2005 in recognition of the need for a state body to advocate for Indigenous languages. Many of the group have known each other for many years prior through informal language networks. Together they have achieved many things for Queensland languages.
Over the years the women have found a collective passion for music and song. Some just love to sing and others wants to see their songs passed on the younger women. It was decided that for one meeting the women would each bring a song in their language to share with the others.
This contemporary musical gathering seeded the realisation singing in this way gives new life to the ancient process of sharing music between communities, and empowers the participants to share their languages.╩
Join with them, by listening or singing along, to let their ancient lands once again - and in ever louder volume - hear the voices that hold and tell its stories.

First Languages Australia short with Karina Lester speaking Yankunytjatjara.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Gadj Maymuru speaking Yolŋu.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Shaun Davies speaking about the Yugambeh language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

Wadawurrung country stretches from the mountains to the sea. It includes hills, rivers and grassy plains, creeks and coasts and includes modern towns such as Werribee, Geelong and Ballarat in Victoria.

Since colonisation, white fellas have tried to write down our Wadawurrung language, even though there are no equivalent sounds in English.

We had no written language so early settlers wrote down what they heard using their own language trying to reproduce the sounds.

In this series of short films we correct some of the language spelling of the places we all know and explain the meaning behind our stories.

Language needs a place to live, and this is a chance for us to tell our stories and our language.

Our language is sleeping, but will soon reawaken.

This video is set in Wurdi Youang, which means big hill in the middle of a plain. It is located about 60km south-west of Melbourne and is now known as the You Yangs. Here we explain the story behind how this impressive series of granite ridges, was formed and why it is part of an ancient song line.

Story: Bryon Powell
Producers: Tammy Gilson & Larissa Romensky
Animation: Stephanie Skinner
Actors: Rhyder Harrison

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

First Languages Australia short with o speaking about the Jandai language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Eve Fesl about the Gubbi Gubbi language.

First Languages Australia short with Cygnet Repu speaking about the Kala lagaw Ya language -Mabuyag dialect .

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Jennifer Creek speaking Kaantju/Ayapathu.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

Language workers from right across the top end and throughout WA got together this week for the bi-annual Wanala Language conference.

ABC Open held a video workshop at the conference to demonstrate how easy it is to share language through video. This is the outcome of the workshop.

Produced by Alex Smee

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

First Languages Australia short with Benny Mabo speaking Meriam Mir.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Nora Cooke speaking Ngarla.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Ruth James, Shaniah Thomason, Robert Mitchell, and Deborah Sandy speaking about the Yugara-Yugarapul language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Kerry Charlton speaking about the Yuggera - Djendewal llanguage.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Ethel Munn and her Maranoa Lullaby.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Callum Clayton-Dixon speaking about the Anaywan language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Grant Thompson speaking about the Ngandi language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Helena Wright speaking about the Kabi Kabi language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Reegan Finlay speaking about the Gunggari llanguage.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Kaitlyn Lodewikus speaking about the Ganggula and Yiman languages.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Jacqueline Spurling speaking about the Wangkatja language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Len Collard speaking about the Noongar language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

One day, right before her 14th birthday, Joy Wandin Murphy woke up with a bad feeling. She refused to go to school. She had an unshakeable sense of dread that something was going to happen to her father. Joy was eventually permitted to stay home, and her father passed away that same day.

It was a turning point for Joy. In that moment, she knew with absolute clarity that they had lost a great man and that to honour him, she had to give back somehow to her community. ‘From there it was indelibly printed that I had to do something, but at that point, I wasn’t sure exactly, what’, she recalls.

Joy Wandin Murphy is a Wurundjeri elder and Woiwurrung language teacher, based in Healesville, 60km east of Melbourne. Joy's great-great uncle was William Barak, the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder/leader) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan. Joy’s father, Jarlo Wandoon, attempted to enlist for World War 1 but was rejected on account of being Aboriginal. He proceeded to re-enlist under a whitefella name, James Wandin, and went on to serve overseas.

It’s with this same tenacity that Aunty Joy has applied herself to her work. She is committed to promoting positive relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community, and to strengthening the Woiwurrung language. Joy frequently gives the traditional ‘Welcome to country’ greeting at Melbourne events and was invited to be the creative artist and lyricist for the Opening and Closing ceremony songs in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Among other accolades, Joy was made an officer of the Order of Australia in 2006, for her service to the community, particularly the Aborigines, through ‘significant contributions in the fields of social justice, land rights, equal opportunity, art and reconciliation’.

Joy currently teaches the Woiwurrung language to Year 7 and 8 students at Healesville High school and mentors her sister, Doreen, who also teaches language and culture at the school. It’s a pilot program funded by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. It will be supported until the end of the year. Beyond that, Joy is determined to find the funds to keep the program going.

Joy was taught the Woiwurrung language by her aunt and uncle, the older siblings of her father. 'Uncle Frank spent a lot of time with us and although he was a very quiet man, he would say a word, and it would just penetrate. You just never forgot what he said and how he said it,' she recalls. Joy knew that most of her generation had totally missed out on language, and she felt a responsibility to pass it on to the next generation.

‘It’s a very proud moment when you’re able to teach not just Wurundjeri children, but also non-Aboriginal children, because we are about educating everyone. And if we share the knowledge that’s been handed down over all those years, then we hope that can bring a much more harmonious community.’

This film is part of the ‘Mother Tongue’ language series, documenting Indigenous languages around Victoria. Click here to view the first film of the series, on the Wiradjuri language.

ABC Open Producer: Suzi Taylor

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

This video showcases a few of the hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Languages of Australia in a project to provide one song for the many voices of the land.
Check out the website for more information and great teachers resources: MarrinGamu.org.au
Marrin Gamu - My language, Our song.

First Languages Australia short with Thelma Coleman speaking about the Bayali language.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

Leah Robinson and her Martu families love to hunt sand goannas in the western desert region of WA. The community at Parrngurr has a special place nearby – a significant waterhole where past elders first settled and lived.

First Languages Australia short with Richard Johnson speaking GoorengGooreng.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Jennifer Creek speaking about the Kaantju language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Vanessa Ferrelly speaking about the Pertame language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

Mother Tongue series: Body Parts in Yuwibara

First Languages Australia short with o speaking about the Kalkutungu language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short withKelli Owen speaking in Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna, Nurrunga.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

Good Mornings Animations: Ngarigo

First Languages Australia short with Godfrey Simpson speaking Wajarri.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Shane Blackman speaking Gurang.

The video was recorded and filmed with Indigenous men from the Barkly community of Utopia, in conjunction with traditional owner Cowboy Loy.

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

Wangal people know Sydney as the place of eel Dreaming and before it was known as the Parramatta River, the waterway was called Burramattagal. From trees that protected Aboriginal children from snakes to the first contact with Europeans, join Uncle Jimmy Smith in a tour of Sydney's significant parks and waterways.

The 'This Place' project invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it.

First Languages Australia short with Phyllis WIlliams speaking in Ngarrindjerri.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Tahnee Creek speaking Kaantju/Ayapthu and Kuuka-Ya’u/Lama Lama.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Wally Saunders speaking about Manbarra.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

The Gold Coast hinterland is a great vantage point to take in the east and west, but it also is the setting for a Yugambeh story. The Wanungara story gives life to the landscape, speaking to us of the formation of this country’s magnificent waterfalls, lush rainforests, ancient trees and natural beauty through the spirits of the landscape. The story explores the deeper nuances of respecting Elders, valuing family and being truthful and honest. Under the guidance of Senior Yugambeh Elder Patricia O’Connor, Paula Nihôt project officer with the Yugambeh Museum, tells the story of the Queen and her daughters who created this place.

The 'This Place' project invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it.

First Languages Australia short with Sonya Smith speaking Bunganditj.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Verna Koolmatrie speaking Ngarrindjerri.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Harold Furber speaking Arrernte.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Amy Davies speaking about the Gathang language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

Kabi Kabi man Kerry Neill shares the Aboriginal Dreaming story behind popular tourist destinations on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. In this story, we discover how the black swan helped Maroochydore gain its name.

The 'This Place' project invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it.

First Languages Australia short with Seraine Namundja speaking about the Kunwinjku language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Diane McNaboe speaking North/West Wiradjuri.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

'This Place' is a partnership between the ABC and First Languages Australia inviting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it. Share with ICTV with support from the Community Benefit Fund.

Michael Jarrett shares a Gumbaynggirr dreamtime story with us, from the banks of the Nambucca River... right next to the site a giant once fell.

The 'This Place' project invites Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to create a short video about a place name, and the story behind it.

First Languages Australia short with Lesigo Zaro speaking about the Meriam Mir language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Ricky Buchanan speaking about the Gumbaynggir llanguage.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Anne Gela speaking about the Kala Lagau Ya - Bigthap Krio llanguage.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

Wajarri country is inland from Geraldton, Western Australia, and extends as far south and west as Mullewa, north to Gascoyne Junction and east to Meekatharra.

Leeann Merrit is a Senior language worker at Bundiyarra - Irra Wangga Language Centre in Geraldton.

Leeann loves to teach children the Wajarri language and has produced a book called 'Balayi Mundungu' which means 'Look out for the monster'.

In this short video Leeann teaches body parts in the Wajarri language using a monster puppet to enlighten her students!

Produced by Leeann Merrit and Chris Lewis for ABC Open's Mother Tongue Project.

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

First Languages Australia short with Steven Goldsmith speaking about the Kaurna language.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

Good Mornings Animations: Wakka Wakka

First Languages Australia short with Virginia Jarrett, speaking Gumbaynggirr.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Kaiden Hancock-Richards speaking about the Barngarla language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

Nhanda is a Midwest language spoken in the region from Geraldton to the Murchison River, yet very few people speak it fluently today.

In an attempt to stimulate and invigorate the sleeping language, a number of resources have been recently produced, in the hope that more people will learn the language for generations to come.

Linguist Rosie Sitorus who works at Irra Wangga Language Centre said: "We've created some posters primarily as a teaching tool for schools and homes, so that kids can look at it every day and they can start to be aware of the words and be proud of them."

The Irra Wangga Language team has been working quite extensively with the Nhanda people, in particular with Nhanda elder Clayton Drage and his daughter Colleen.

"We were never taught the language and I always wanted to speak Nhanda," Colleen Drage said.

"Speaking language should be part of our everyday life. I wish I could sit with someone one day and have a conversation with them in Nhanda language, that would be lovely."

One of the foundations to keep any language alive is storytelling, listening and recording those stories in language. Stories are really important and help to ensure languages like Nhanda are kept up-to-date and easily available for people to learn.

"Everyone who cares about representing the Nhanda language and culture should have these kinds of resources available," Rosie said.

"It's about trying to ensure people are proud of the language and that it's important and worthwhile."

ABC Open Producer: Chris Lewis

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

First Languages Australia short with Gabreil Creek, speaking Kaantju.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

Mother Tongue series:

First Languages Australia short with Tyronne Bell speaking Ngunawal.

This video is from a series of videos produced by First Languages Australia that originally appeared on the Gambay Languages map. The map can be viewed at https://gambay.com.au/

First Languages Australia short with speaking Gloria Dann about the Noongar language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Sandra Sebasio speaking about the Injinoo Ikya language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Terence Creek speaking Southern Kanntju.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Alfred Grey Junior speaking about the Gunggay language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Nyoka Hatfield speaking Dharumbal.

This video is from a series of videos produced by First Languages Australia that originally appeared on the Gambay Languages map. The map can be viewed at https://gambay.com.au/

First Languages Australia short with Judy Anne Edgar speaking Yawuru.

This video was created as part of the First Languages Australia project the Gambay language map which can be viewed here: https://gambay.com.au/

First Languages Australia short with Melinda Holden speaking about preserving langauge. Warrgamay

This is a story about a dynamic group of women who are reviving the GunaiKurnai language throughout East Gippsland in Victoria: Lynnette Solomon-Dent, Dr Doris Paton and Hollie Johnson.

Dr Paton explains that not everything in her language can be directly translated into English. There is no single word in Gunai for ‘tree’. The word they use to name a tree will depend on the food it yields, what species it is and what cultural and medicinal function it might serve. Born of some of the world’s greatest environmentalists, it makes sense that the Gunai language expresses the intimate knowledge its interlocutors share of their natural world.

‘Language isn’t just about speaking, it’s your whole way of life,’ explained Lynnette Solomon-Dent. ‘It tells you what’s in the country, what the stories are, what your obligations are to each other.’ Unpack a single word and you can start to understand a system of kin relations and cultural obligations that are still alive and well. The word for ‘mother’ doubles as the word used for Lynnette’s sisters. If anything happened to Lynnette, her sisters would automatically become mothers to her children. It’s all there in the language.

The scope of words we have and use reveals a lot about what we care about, where our attention lies and what kind of world we live in. In the Arrernte language of Central Australia, there is a single word for ‘the smell of rain’ and for ‘debris from trees floating, left over from a flood’. The Yindiny language spoken south of Cairns has highly specialised terms for noises. ‘Ganga’ means ‘the sound of someone’s feet approaching’ and ‘yuyurungul’ means ‘the shushing noise of a snake sliding through the grass’. Pitjantjatjara has no words for numbers beyond three, but like Gunai and countless other Indigenous languages, it contains extremely complex vocabulary surrounding kinship relations and natural phenomena – right down to describing types of lightening and the spectrum of colours in the sky.

A language can bring you into a community or it can keep you apart from one. Anybody who has travelled in a foreign country without a grasp of its language can attest to the bewildering sense of disconnection from the people, landscape and culture. Words can help you see beyond your peripheral vision. Dr Doris Paton hopes that Australians will turn their heads to embrace the many different languages and countries we have on board our great big island, and all the little islands surrounding it. ‘[Our languages] are quite distinct like in Europe, and that sharing of language also shares knowledge, as it does in European languages.’

The biggest difference is that unlike the majority of European languages, our Indigenous languages are vanishing at an alarming rate. Across the country, people like Doris, Lynnette and Hollie are racing against the clock to revive their ancestral languages, protect over 40,000 years of knowledge and offer all of us the opportunity to better understand this country and its Indigenous caretakers, from the inside out.

Feel free to share your response to the film or the ideas in this blog, using the ‘feedback’ form below. For more background on the GunaiKurnai language and culture of East Gippsland, check out a fantastic article with audio links by ABC Open Producer Rachael Lucas on some local GunaiKurnai place names and click here for a great yarn about a recent canoe-building building project in Gippsland, led by Gunai elder Uncle Albert Mullett. Check out other documentary films produced as part of the 'Our Mother Tongue' series here.

Please note, the Australian Aboriginal Languages map featured in the film is just one representation of many other map sources that are available for Aboriginal Australia. Using published resources available between 1988–1994, this map attempts to represent all the language or tribal or nation groups of the Indigenous people of Australia. It indicates only the general location of larger groupings of people which may include smaller groups such as clans, dialects or individual languages in a group. Boundaries are not intended to be exact. This map is NOT SUITABLE FOR USE IN NATIVE TITLE AND OTHER LAND CLAIMS. David R Horton, creator, © Aboriginal Studies Press, AIATSIS and Auslig/Sinclair, Knight, Merz, 1996. No reproduction allowed without permission.

ABC Open Producer: Suzi Taylor

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

First Languages Australia short with Harold Ludwick speaking about the language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Cecelia Ropeyarn speaking about the Injinoo Ikya language. This is the first ever Injinoo Ikya language video on ICTV.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with James Sandy about the Yugambeh language.

First Languages Australia short with Shonae Hobson with Kaantju.

This video is a part of the First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Abigail Carter speaking Burarra.

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

Butchulla lullaby

First Languages Australia short with Suzy Holland speaking Bunganditj

This beautiful series of shorts from First Languages Australia celebrate Indigenous languages, and the people who speak them, keep them alive and help others to learn more about Indigenous language.

First Languages Australia short with Lionel Lovett speaking about the Wiradjuri language.

This video is a part of the amazing on the Gambay Language map from First Language Australia. The map can be viewed here: www.gambay.com.au

First Languages Australia short with Lelarnie Hatfield speaking about the Dharumbal language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au

First Languages Australia short with Bridget Priman speaking - Warrgamay.

This video is a part of teh First Languages Australia Gambay language map project. Available to view here: https://gambay.com.au

Bianca Monaghan and Dean Loadsman were born into the first generation of Wahlabul people to grow up with the freedom to practice their traditional language and culture, without being discouraged or punished.

They have a vision to give the next generation the gift of fluency in their mother tongue.

However, to do that, they first have to overcome a few major challenges. Neither Ms Monaghan or Mr Loadsman are fluent speakers of their mother tongue.

Traditionally it is not a written language, which means there are no textbooks.

And history is against them.

The colonial invasion in the early 1800s had a huge impact on the loss of language and culture for the Aboriginal clans of Australia's east coast.

Many communities were rounded up into missions with non-Indigenous managers. The goal was assimilation with white Australia.

The practice of language and culture was often prohibited and could be punished with imprisonment, but surprisingly some Aboriginal languages are not as dead as we are often led to believe.

Despite the harsh treatment in the missions, there are communities where people defied authorities and kept their language alive.

Some of those communities are in the Baryulgil, Tabulam and Woodonbong areas, remote regions of the NSW North Coast. These are the homelands of the Wahlabul and Gidhabul clans.

Language was still in regular use in the 1960s and even today, there are a few elders who are fluent speakers.

From the late 1800s through to the late 1900s, a number of linguists produced dictionaries recording some of the vocabulary of local dialects which they grouped under a region name of Bundjalung.

Ms Monaghan and Mr Loadsman are now studying these dictionaries and seeking out their elders, to sit at their feet and learn as much as they can.

Their vision is to become fluent and teach the next generation to be proud to practice their culture and speak their language.

A big thanks to the children of Baryulgil Public School who let us document their weekly lesson with Balun Budjarahm Cultural Experience.

ABC Open Producer: Catherine Marciniak
Photographer: Greg Barton

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.

First Languages Australia short with Darnell Richards speaking about the Barngarla language.

First Languages Australia is a national organisation working with community language programs around the country to support the continued use and recognition of Australia’s first languages.

More info: www.firstlangauges.org.au