NAIDOC Week: How Elders Are Reviving Aboriginal Language Through Children’s Songs

The Aboriginal language of the Eora people is rarely spoken these days, but as a group of young children proved during a NAIDOC Week event in Sydney, many are eager to revive the Indigenous spoken word.

At a 30-minute workshop in Hyde Park, a dozen eager students mastered some basic words to the well-known tune Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Infographic: Gadigal translations to the tune Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Dharawal woman and local elder Deborah Lennis led the workshop.

She said Aboriginal languages such as Gadigal and Dharawal were “tricky” to learn as a second language as the words were made up of soft sounds unlike English.

For young attendee Eadie Hurley, learning the Gadigal words “was hard”, although by the end of the session she had learnt the song by heart.

She said she was eager to learn more.

There are about 35 Aboriginal languages and more than 100 dialects in NSW.

Ms Lennis said within the Sydney Eora basin, which includes the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Cooks river areas, there are 29 languages.

CHILDREN SING IN GADIGAL LANGUAGE

“Unfortunately, they’re not very widely spoken now at all,” she said.

“Because [Gadigal] were the first ones to be colonised, it was also the first language to be stopped spoken.”

Ms Lennis said there were now very few Indigenous languages from the Sydney Eora basin that were spoken in conversation.

Instead there were simply lists of words, such as the ones she taught in the workshop.

Deb Lennis says words exist in the Gadigal language but are now rarely spoken in conversation: Amanda Hoh

Despite that, Ms Lennis said she was seeing a revival of Aboriginal languages, particularly in schools.

“A lot of Aboriginal people are becoming linguists to revive the languages, to make sure our language does survive and keep it strong,” she said.

“People say it’s a dead language, it’s not. There’s words out there.”

According to the NSW Education Department, there are about 60 schools teaching Aboriginal languages.

The subject was introduced as a HSC elective this year.

Deborah Lennis with her workshop students (from left) Eadie Hurley, Bawurra Reynolds, Maliyan Reynolds, Milla and Frankie Hurley. (702 ABC Sydney: Amanda Hoh)