I just caught up with the excellent news that Raymattja Marika is the winner of the 2006 Territory Day Award.
For many years she has been one of the mainstays of language maintenance and the use of Indigenous languages in Arnhem Land schools, and of trying to craft a way of teaching and learning in schools which combines the best of both Yolngu and English-based education. It’s great to see her honoured, and it’s also good at a time when some commentators are devaluing and failing to understand the contribution of Indigenous languages and Indigenous people to education.
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