Endangered Languages

Policy playtime

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First there was (and still is, if you move quickly) the Inquiry into language learning in Indigenous communities being held by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, discussed here. Then came the National Cultural Policy. This shouldn’t just be for visual and performing artists. It includes Cultural … Read more

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Submit today!

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Regarding the Inquiry into language learning in Indigenous communities being held by the Australian House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs: we would like to strongly encourage you all to make a submission to the Inquiry, and to reach out to communities, Indigenous organisations, educational institutions and any other relevant people and organisations.

Submissions are due by this Friday, 19 August. However, the Secretariat is open to giving extensions for submissions. If you need to make a late submission, or are concerned or need more information, you can contact the Secretariat by telephone on (02) 6277 4559 or by email.

Jane Simpson (ANU) has created a proforma of useful topics to include in a submission to the Inquiry. You can download the proforma from the RNLD web site here or read the details below.

23/8/2011: UPDATE from Jane Simpson Please draw on these points if they are helpful, but do include the details of your own situation, or concerns that you are familiar with. That’s more useful to the Committee.

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Maybe Faust got it right?

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‘Lost indigenous languages to be revived’ is the news from the State Library of NSW: “The Library has entered into an exciting new collaboration with Rio Tinto to help revive and preserve critically endangered Indigenous languages and word lists that are embedded in historical documents held by the Library.” It quotes the NSW Arts Minister George Souris as saying, “A nation’s oral and written language is the backbone to its culture.” So why doesn’t the NSW government fund more Indigenous language work and why is Rio Tinto the hero here? This raises an important issue for us in our efforts to raise funds for language projects. It is an age-old question: how much do we provide a smokescreen of civility for companies like Rio Tinto when we accept their funds?

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NRPIPA Symposium in Darwin 13-14 August 2011

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Another stunning array of papers and associated performances will feature at the 10th Annual Symposium of NRPIPA (The National Recording Project for Indigenous Performance in Australia). This year there will be a focus on community databases for access to recordings. Venue: North Australian Research Unit, The Australian National University, Darwin, 13–14 August 2011 Presented in … Read more

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Birrguu Matya, or the game Tapatan

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‘A new board game based on an ancient Aboriginal game has just been released by N S W Aboriginal artist Donna Hensen. Called Hunters Tactics,’ reported the Koori Mail 166 (17 December 1997), page 25. ‘Traditionally, the game was played on the ground using sticks, stones or kangaroo dung and was one of many used … Read more

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More searching

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In a previous post I discussed ways in which it is possible to search for materials on endangered languages in various archives around the world (see also Nick Thieberger’s post on how much material doesn’t make it into archives). There is now another tool, namely the Virtual Language Observatory developed by the Max Planck Institute … Read more

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Gresham College webcasts

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On 16th June, Nick Ostler, Mark Turin and I participated in a packed symposium at Gresham College in London (founded in 1597 and the capital’s oldest Higher Education Institution — read about its fascinating history here). The Symposium was entitled Rare and Endangered Languages, and the topics of our talks were as follows: Nick Ostler … Read more

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What’s a Warrambool?

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‘What’s a Warrambool?’ asks one Rob Brennan in Westprint Friday Five 2011.6.24 (Replies from others are now in Westprint Friday Five 2011.7.1.) The usual English dictionaries are no help, not even the AND. Warrambool is a good example of a word borrowed from an Australian language into local English, but which, although well-known in its region, has not spread through Australian English (or beyond!).

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Podcasts on SOAS radio

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Several podcasts about endangered languages are now available from the student-run online radio station SOAS Radio. They include: An interview with Gabriela Perez Baez, curator of Linguistics at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Gabriela talks in depth about her experience of researching endangered Zapotecan languages in Mexican and US immigrant communities. Her … Read more

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Iwantja Band launch ‘Palya’

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Around the remoter parts of Australia there’s a ferment of contemporary music and Australian languages. I had a taste of this a week ago in Tennant Creek, where I learnt of a freshly released album from Iwantja Band, now on their launch journey (Iwantja Band launch Palya).

cover art for 'Palya'
Cover art for 'Palya'

I caught some of the enthusiasm from Patrick McCloskey, a freelance music producer working with the Winanjjikari Music Centre1 at Tennant Creek.

Most of the songs on the album (eg Kungka Nyuntu, Wamanguru) are in Pitjantjatjara / Yankunytjatjara, languages spoken at Iwantja (perhaps better known as Indulkana), some 900km south of Tennant Creek. It suited the band to use a studio not in a city, or in intermediate Alice Springs, but at Winanjjikari in Tennant Creek. And there is more to the mix, as the band’s manager says in an interview:

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Notes

  1. The name is Warumungu, wina-njji-kari ‘sing-Nom-Genitive’; see also WMC’s blog