Kaayi (Hello) – You can now hear 50 everyday words spoken in Indigenous languages
WORKING WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES, researchers at the University of Melbourne have created a resource to help Australians connect with First Nations languages. There are hundreds of Indigenous languages across Australia, but most people have heard only a tiny portion of them and of those languages many Australians would struggle to recognise a single word.
The 50 Words Project aims to provide 50 words in every Indigenous language of Australia, showcasing Australia’s linguistic diversity and celebrating Indigenous languages that continue to be spoken every day, as well as those being revitalised by their communities.
Brought to life through an interactive online language map, words are presented along with recordings from speakers, each provided with community permission. Users can search the map by language or by a particular word. Words for ‘welcome’, ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are included, as well as phrases like ‘what is your name?’ and words for family members, animals and the local environment.
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Guided by nature
Indigenous Australians use their deep spiritual connection to the land to track the seasons, but elders are warning of a “massive shift” in climate.
A words, pictures and video story … by weather reporter Tyne Logan, ABC News, WA South West. 31 Mar 2023 … brief extracts follow – for the full story visit, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-31/indigenous-australian-seasons-guided-by-nature/100919396
Meandering the sandy tracks of the Wandi nature reserve, Noel Nannup stops to observe the budding yellow flowers of the acacia tree.
Their drying and deepening yellow is a subtle sign the season is changing. Uncle Noel is a Whadjuk Noongar elder, from one of the largest Aboriginal cultural blocks in Australia, made up of 14 different language groups.
His culture is rooted in a deep spiritual connection to the land he lives on which informs his vast knowledge of the local Indigenous seasons.
“[People] don’t understand the depth of Aboriginal knowledge of country, and the main motivating factor of why we’re on country, which is to care for it,” he said.
On Noongar boodja [country], there are not four seasons like modern Australia has been taught – but six.
The seasons are not fixed to a certain date, instead dictated by changing signs in the environment.
But a major government report has warned these seasons are being disrupted by climate change, putting Indigenous people’s knowledge and culture at risk.
This is how to recognise the seasons on Noongar country, and how they are changing.
Djilba: First spring (August – September)
Kambarang: Second spring (October-November)
Birak: First summer (December – January)
Bunuru: Second summer (February – March)
Djeran: Autumn (April – May)
Makuru: Winter (June-July)
Spiritual connection hard to measure
Aunty Carol said it was a way of living and listening, which everyone could learn from.
“I’ve been taught that we look at the weather first, then the flora responds and then the animals,” she said. “And then we, as human beings, we are the last responders. Our behaviour is determined by the behaviour of nature.”
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Gen Z disconnect from tech to get back to nature on a five-day, phone-free camping and kayaking trip
AT THE BEGINNING of a five-day kayaking trip Aboriginal elder Jason Kerr (pictured above) performed a smoking ceremony with the words:
“It’s very important what we are doing to help our rivers be healthy for our kids and our grandchildren, because that’s where our future lies.
We give respect to our Elders past and present and the younger generation.
We give respect to our first nations people, we give respect to our rivers, our trees, the soil, the air, our mountains, our hills, our cultural values. ”
Watch the ceremony and read the story at this LINK.
… First noted in MMM Issue # 44, June-July 2024