Aboriginal Language Revival in the Condamine River Catchment

For the first time in the Condamine catchment significant research has been undertaken to record and share Aboriginal language of the area.

The Condamine Alliance Languages Project, with support from the Indigenous Language Support (ILS) program, worked with Des Crump from Dhinawun Consultancy to support language revival in the communities of the Condamine catchment.

Des said a key part of his work involved community forums and consultations to generate discussion around the traditional language of the Condamine River.

“These discussions helped provide a direction for collaborative activities in language revival, including the production of language materials for the teaching/learning of languages in schools and communities,” he said.

“An underlying theme to the documentation of language was a strong focus on ‘caring for country’ and the traditional knowledge of managing the natural resources of the Condamine River.”

“In addition to ‘mapping’ the languages of the Condamine River, the project is also ‘mapping’ the Traditional Indigenous Knowledge of the Condamine – both of these elements need to be documented and preserved for future generations,” Des said.

It is hoped that this project may serve as a catalyst for further language revival activities in the communities along the Condamine and that the creation of wordlists and other language materials may serve as a ‘trigger’ for social memories of language knowledge.

The next stage of this project will see the release of information and resources in consultation with community members.

The ILS program aims to address the erosion and loss of Australia’s estimated 250 Indigenous languages. For more information visit the Indigenous Language Support website.