Information collected on Aboriginal languages along the Condamine River is being used to hopefully trigger a revival of indigenous languages in Southern Queensland.
It is thought there were about 250 Aboriginal languages spoken in Australia at European settlement and now about 60 are considered alive and spoken daily.
The Condamine Alliance project aimed to record and share Aboriginal languages in the region to help preserve the culture and traditional knowledge for managing the natural resources of the Condamine River.
Indigenous language researcher Des Crump believes it is possible to bring back languages from the brink of extinction.
“Generally with language we prefer to see them as sleeping language and part of our job as a language researcher is to actually bring those languages back to life by awakening them.”
“There’s an absence of language and cultural identity (in the south west area of Queensland) and I think it’s important particularly for the young people in the schools and communities to be able to revive that language and see it being used again.”
Audio
Des Crump speaking about Aboriginal language revival along the Condamine River
- This article originally appears at:
- http://www.abc.net.au/rural/qld/content/2013/04/s3736445.htm
- Article taken from the following publication:
- ABC Rural
- Article submitted by:
