Some of Western Australia’s threatened Aboriginal languages are to be recorded as part of a program to preserve Indigenous stories for future generations.
The WA Film and Television Institute said since 2008 the Indigenous Community Stories initiative has made 49 recordings.
This year another 15 stories will be recorded with a range of groups, including speakers of the Nyiyaparli, Banyjima and Yinhawangka languages of the Pilbara and the Miriwoong language of the Kimberley.
The institute’s Michael Ellis said there was now fewer than 40 fluent speakers of the Pilbara languages.
“The aim of the program is to record the oral histories, songs, dance, art, dreaming stories, traditional rituals and language, before they are lost forever,” he said.
Mr Ellis said the aim was to collect 100 stories by 2016.
“We believe it’s already the world’s largest anthology of Indigenous oral histories but our initial target we set out was 100 stories to be recorded for 100 years, but once we reach reach the 100, certainly I am sure we will be looking to record the many other stories out there.”
- This article originally appears at:
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-14/indigenous-languages-preserved-in-recordings/5260120
- Article taken from the following publication:
- ABC News
- Article submitted by:
- Author:
- Ebonnie Spriggs
