Let's write about saving heritage languages

Echo report from Australia, published in ABC News*, by Mark Rigby writing for ABC Far North.

This report can be a resource reference for all minority cultures.

Language suppression is an overt example of racism. One small community in Australia is finally finding some validation about the history of its aboriginal language. The program reconnects Aboriginal children with their culture.

The children sing nursery rhymes in Aboriginal languages at the community's aged care facility.(ABC Far North: Mark Rigby)

Kowanyama, in Australia:  Kowanyama is a town and coastal locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama, Queensland, Australia. It is the site of the former Mitchell River Mission, founded in 1916, after the nearby Trubanamen Mission was abandoned. In the 2016 census the locality of Kowanyama had a population of 944 people. Mitchell River Mission, at Trubanaman, was established by the Church of England in 1905. Children living on the Mission were separated from their parents and housed in segregated dormitories for the purposes of education. This practice was also viewed as a means of isolating the children from their culture. In 1918 the mission relocated to a site on Magnificent Creek and was given the name Kowanyama (however, for many years after this move it was still referred to as Mitchell River Mission). In 1966, the Anglican Church approached the government to take control of the mission and responsibility for the mission was handed over to the Queensland Government on 1 May 1967. The mission became a government administered reserve known as Kowanyama.

Aboriginal languages once banned under colonial rule are making a classroom comeback, creating new connections to culture in remote western Cape York Peninsula. 

Kowanyama, north-west of Cairns, is home to three distinct language groups that were almost eradicated.

But they are now being taught to students at Kowanyama State School and it is having a far greater impact than anyone in the community could ever have imagined.

First Nations people were forbidden from speaking their languages — Kokoberra, Kokomnjen and Kunjen — when they were moved onto Anglican missions in the early 20th century.

Kokoberra elder Priscilla Major is one of only a few people remaining who speaks all three languages fluently.

She said the ban dealt a devastating blow to the retention of culture.

"Adults who are in their 20s, 30s and 40s, even in their 50s and 60s don't know their language," Ms Major said.

"We've got to keep talking; we don't want our language to get lost."

Ms Major was part of a two-year community consultation process, initiated by Kowanyama State School and the Queensland Department of Education, to incorporate Aboriginal language classes into the school's curriculum.

Kowanyama State School deputy principal Mikayla Bell said that process identified the community's desire for all three languages to be taught.

After successfully launching Aboriginal language lessons in the classroom in term three, the program is now making the community's wishes a reality.

Language revival on country

Students are venturing out of the classroom and onto country.

"Being outside learning in the way they used to learn and their ancestors used to learn was a really important aspect for them," Ms Bell said.

On the banks of Magnificent Creek, which runs through the heart of Kowanyama, students learn to say the Aboriginal names of local flora and fauna.

They also visit Kowanyama's aged care home to share their lessons with community elders and learn more about Aboriginality.

"Identity is a really important part of being an Aboriginal person, and that identity was taken from a lot of people a long time ago," Ms Bell said.

"We're at the very beginning and we're not saying these kids are walking out here being able to talk full language.

"But it is a revival program and it requires a lot of people being involved, and that's our elders."

'Learn while you can'

The language classes are making a mark on students with school attendance on the rise.

Ms Bell said attitudes to learning had changed.

"Being able to have the students really strong in their culture and have identity and pride can just encourage that attendance at school," she said.

"We don't expect that all kids are going to be doctors or dentists. There's a variety of different jobs out there in the world.

"But the most important thing is that they can contribute to a community setting and be good citizens."

For Priscilla Major, there was an urgency to the language program.

"I explain to them, you've got to learn your language now while you can because we won't be here for you the next time," Ms Major said.

"There've been a few things lost already, and I'm adamant I'm bringing some things back before I go down."

The students learn to read, write and speak ancestral languages in the classroom, and out on country.(ABC Far North: Mark Rigby)

'We've got to keep talking': Elders revive Aboriginal languages in the classroom.

*The ABC and CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)  announced the Kindred Animation Collaboration, a joint initiative designed to nurture and support the kids’ production industry, by funding new children’s animated projects in Australia and Canada.

Definition: A heritage language is a minority language (either immigrant or indigenous) learned by its speakers at home as children, but never fully developed because of insufficient input from the social environment. The speakers grow up with a different dominant language in which they become more competent.