The next step for Indigenous languages in the NT

I’ve been working with Indigenous people and their languages in the Northern Territory for over 20 years. This work has involved recording and documenting languages, and in training and supporting people to create resources in their own languages. Over this time I’ve developed enduring friendships with local champions of Indigenous languages in Arnhem Land, Central Australia and the Barkly. Through my work at Batchelor Institute I’ve come into contact with Indigenous people from many other places too. These language champions are people who have spent their working lives in schools and other organisations in their home communities. These people have many skills. They have worked alongside teachers, linguists, bible translators, scientists and publishers on many different projects, and are adept at working in a cross-cultural space. The older members are usually literate in their first languages, through participating in Bilingual teacher training and translation projects, and as literacy workers. Their communities and the NT have been greatly enriched by their work – witness the burgeoning repository of book titles in Indigenous languages in the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages project, which represents just some of the literature that was produced throughout the years of Bilingual Education and literacy worker training in the NT.

After all these years, one thing that still strikes me when I talk with people about their languages is how consistent their message is. It’s a strong message about how important language is, to identity, for connections to kin and country and to education. Despite the perilous state of many traditional Indigenous languages, they are still vitally important. People believe in the value of both-ways communication, as the foundation for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working together.

Now the age of digital communication has come to remote communities in the NT. Many places already have satellite internet, and the uptake of mobile phones and tablets in remote Australia is happening at a staggering pace. The new NBN satellite services will only increase this in the near future, and this will bring benefits to remote Australia. Better communication services are always welcome. However, people are asking some big questions too – what about Indigenous languages? Will they be included? What sort of Indigenous language content will we see amongst all the apps and devices that people own?

At a recent workshop in Alice Springs these questions were addressed through demonstrating some apps that already exist for recording, documenting and publishing Indigenous language material. Language speakers who attended listened to Indigenous language advocates, linguists and app developers describe some projects, to think about how these could be applied to more languages. We brainstormed many ideas for apps which could be adapted from these resources, or developed from scratch. In the planning sessions, the language speakers brought their years of experience to the table. They identified what was important and sketched this into ways that language and cultural content can be put into apps and games.

The digital frontier is the next step for Indigenous languages. The strong message coming from the workshop was that in these new forms of communication and digitally based resources the important things are still the same: connections to kin and country and the importance of Indigenous languages in education.

By Margaret Carew