that munanga linguist

The NT is a hotmess

2012-01-31T13:43:00.001+09:30

You couldn't make this stuff up.

Calling the police in the NT now goes to a centralisedcall centre in Darwin where the people who answer the calls have zero localknowledge. Eldersin Lajamanu want to contact local community police but instead get a nitwitin Darwin asking ridiculous questions. (And would the police have Aboriginallanguage-speaking interpreters on stand-by? Don’t think so!). Nobody outside ofDarwin wants this new centralised police call centre.

School starts today. Thousands of kids who speakAboriginal languages are deniedreceiving an education in their own language. Attendancein remote schools is worse than ever and the Federal Government is rolling outthe “NoSchool, No Food” policy which has been shown to *not* work. The Ed. Dept isnow recruitingteachers with no teaching qualifications, bringing in more outsiders whoare clueless about working in remote Aboriginal Australia, even if theirheart is in the right place.

The Australian Human Rights commission saysthe Super Shires might be worse than the intervention. From Mick Gooda:

I have not heard one person say anything positive about what has happened. People feel totally disempowered by it and if we don't do something about getting ... governance structures back into the communities, the outcome of this amalgamation will be probably worse than the Northern Territory Intervention.

Barack and Julia think it's all a bit of a laugh.
Darwin, 2011.

Phase two of the Intervention, labelled “StrongerFutures”, is being put through parliament. A senate inquiryhas begun and many in the NT just want to see the Intervention and its remnantsgone for good. Take a look at the submissionfrom Ramingining elders to see how those subjected to these policies feel:

The intervention has been here for 5 years and what did it do? We got fences on our houses, but no new houses. Not for Yolŋu, only Balanda. No extra jobs.

We want our right to self-determination. We don’t want to be controlled from the outside.

We want our community councils back, and our assets returned. We want to be able to have a say in the foundation of any laws that effect Yolŋu in our communities.

We want bilingual education brought back. Every study shows that it is better for our people. We want elders to have a say in curriculums so it is relevant to our lives.

…we need our laws to be recognised along with Balanda laws.Our law is the basis of our society. We want our law recognised. We want our law holders to be recognised.

We are the land holders in our communities.
It is our land, it is our community and it is subject to our law.
We will not be assimilated by these policies.
WE CHOOSE SELF DETERMINATION.

Meanwhile, ourpoliticians are more worried about some bratty kids who burned a bit offabric with some stars on it…

… 3000kms away.

Ah, the magic of the NT. You’ll nevernever know, if you never never go.

Mums and aunties (if only it were that simple)

2012-01-11T13:05:00.001+09:30

Hi everyone!

So I'm in Canberra at the moment trying to be a studious linguist and get this PhD done. I have my mid-term review coming up where I'll be giving a seminar about words you use in Marra and Kriol to talk about family (kinterms).

Can I just say, unequivocally, that Marra people have an amazingly complex way of talking about their family. I mean, I'm not surprised by this as Marra people, like all Aboriginal people, place so much importance on family and maintaining family relationships. But still, I'm slightly blown away by the kin terminology Marra people use. To demonstrate this, I'll try and explain how Marra people would talk about people who in English, we'd call mum or aunty:

So, if I was speaking Marra and wanted to call out to my mum or talk about my mum, I'd use the word gajirri. I'd also use this word if I was calling out to or talking about any of my mum's younger sisters. If I was calling out to or talking about my mum's big sisters, I'd need a different word: ngajamu. In English, ngajamu would be my aunty. But, my father's sisters - who I'd also call aunty in English - are not my ngajamu or gajirri, but I'd call them barnarna.

So we have three words here:

gajirri (mother, mum's little sisters)
ngajamu (mum's big sisters)
barnarna (dad's sisters)

However, if I wanted to talk about the people that are *your* mother, mother's little and big sisters or your dad's sisters, I need different words:

bibi (your mother and her little sisters)
jamulmarr (your mother's big sisters)
marrimarr (your dad's sisters)

Then, if we're talking about someone else's mother, mother's sisters or dad's sisters, we need different words again:

garrnya (someone else's mother and her little sisters)
jamulnganja (someone else's mum's big sisters)
marringanja (someone else's dad's sisters)

Phew! And these are just nine of the 100 or so different kinterms used in the Marra language. Crazy and awesome.

P.S. Hi mum! :-)

Conferenced out but what fun! (Langfest recap Pt. 1)

2011-12-04T21:54:00.001+09:30

After sweating it out in Katherine and Ngukurr over the past few months and doing lotsa really enjoyable and good work with the Ngukurr mob (which I haven't shared nearly enough of on this blog), I've now landed back in cold country (Canberra) just as the rain starts in the north and makes travel difficult again for a few months.

I timed my return to Canberra for Langfest - a series of linguistics conferences held by various national language and linguistics associations - and I'm sitting here tired and fatigued from five long days of stimulating linguistics presentations and the endless socialising that happens throughout these events. Despite my fatigue, it's all been really great and I'm going to attempt a bit of a recap here. I could write a minor thesis on all the talks I went to and the ideas they threw up, but I'm just going to start writing and see how I go. Maybe a reader or two will stay with me!

The first two days were for the Applied Linguistics conference (joint annual conferences of ALAA and ALANZ - the applied linguistics associations of Australia and New Zealand). It started on a great note with an excellent plenary by Andy Kirkpatrick from Griffith Uni who talked about English as a lingua franca in SE Asia. This was a topic I'd never thought about before but Andy's material was very engaging. Two tidbits from the talk stuck with me:

He talked about education in the Philippines and questioned the value of teaching in English and Filipino when most students spoke neither language, but often spoke a local language (e.g. Bohol) plus a regional language (e.g. Cebuano). Apparently the rate of students dropping out of school around year 5 is horrific which is probably a result of such an linguistically alienating education system. This resonated very strongly with me, thinking about the NT where Aboriginal languages are restricted from being the language of instruction and attendance rates are also horrific. This was comforting in a weird way - comforting to know that the crap we are dealing with in the NT isn't unique but just what happens when Mother Tongue Education is ignored.

Andy also talked about Chinese education in SE Asia and commented on Kevin Rudd and his Putonghua ("standard" Chinese, cf. Guangdonghua and other varieties) skills. In Australia, his bilingualism was not widely respected. Andy condemned Australian attitudes towards Rudd's Chinese speaking and attitudes towards bilingualism in general, saying that many Aussies feel that "when you speak another language, then you're siding with the enemy". I was aware of this attitude, but what I, like most Australians, wasn't aware of was the Rudd's Chinese-speaking talents caused a huge ruckus in Singapore who apparently freaked out at "an Anglo speaking better Mandarin than anyone in Singapore cabinet!". Maybe if more Aussies realised that K-Rudd's Chinese gave us international cred like this example shows than fewer would have disparaged it.

I spent a lot of the Applied Linguistics conference listening to talks about Aboriginal English and work going on in education with Aboriginal and Islander kids who don't speak English the same way most of their Anglo teachers do. There are some really interesting projects going on. I particularly liked the research that Ian Malcolm discussed by Sharifian which compared the ways Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal kids retold a story. The research demonstrated that each group brings their own 'cultural schema' to the task. For example, Aboriginal kids would pay attention to details in the story like that the woman in the story was a widow but the Anglo kids would focus on other aspects. I like research on Aboriginal English that goes beyond listing grammatical and phonological features and this was a nice example.

On the other hand, I do sort of cringe at quite a bit of research on Aboriginal English. In my experience, it's not a label that many Aboriginal people feel comfortable in applying to themselves and the way they speak. There's a real danger in pigeon-holing Aboriginal people with the label, as Aboriginal English is nowhere near as prestigious as Anglo English and also many or most Aboriginal people are sophisticated code-switchers who are very competent users of more standard forms of English and are rarely if ever monodialectal. But still, it's an interesting field and sensitively-done research can be really revealing and exciting.

Okay, well I'll have to call this Part One of my conference recap as it's now 1am and I have be up and ready for Uni in a few hours! Goodnight all. Hopefully I get around to telling you more about langfest tomorrow.

Starring on ABC

2011-11-09T15:45:00.000+09:30

I forgot to mention on here that I was interviewed by the ABC a few weeks ago, along with BR who has been so so great in helping my with my Marra work at Ngukurr over the past 18 months.

We were interviewed for ABC Radio's Northern Territory rural report, but they also did up a really nice online article where you can hear the interview and even hear a little bit of BR and FR speaking Marra at start.

Here's the link.

Ai sabi tok Frentj na!

2011-10-06T20:10:00.001+09:30

I wrote a post a while back about a little boy thinking I was speaking French when I was actually speaking Kriol. Well, I'm pleased to say, I speak French now!

Haha. Not quite.

I recorded old MT telling a story about one of her paintings the other day:

The painting is actually a gift for a French volunteer who has been working at the Art Centre here at Ngukurr for a few months. So, after working with the recording in the usual way by transcribing MT's Marra and adding a Kriol translation (thanks to FR), I also added an English translation which was then translated into French!

So, for the first time, I now have a Marra recording translated into French. Maybe it's a world first!

Here's an extract of what MT told us (and yes, the French sounds clumsy sometimes because it's a fairly literal translation):

Nana ninya, warr-iwiganji "rambaramba". Nyingaya-wajurlu gunyan, ya-girriya-ni, gana ngarr-abama. Gana ngarr-abama mingi gana... warlindu mingi bigana, nana gunyan gana ngarr-uyinga.

Celui la, on l'appelle "rambaramba". Il aime le lait, des femmes, quand il le sent. Quand il le sent, apres... il y va apres, parce qu'il... sent le lait.

Yumarr! (Bien!)

Oh, and it's a good story too. It's about a type of snake called rambaramba that likes milk and as such is known to be attracted to breast milk. Unfortunately, it's also a prime example of what can be lost when you translate from a language like Marra into English or French. In Marra, the word for milk (including breast milk) and the word for breast is one and the same: gunyan. So when you say in Marra that 'the snake likes gunyan', you're simultaneously saying 'the snake likes milk', 'the snake likes breastmilk' and 'the snake like breasts'. And you can have a giggle about it. When you put it into English you have to choose one. I went with 'milk'. Much less fun. And then you have to do a bit more cognitive work to figure out that rambaramba likes chasing after breasts.

(This is an example why being able to express yourself in your mother tongue is convenient, valuable and important! *cough cough*... NT Department of Education... )

Lovely photo - Marra mob join in the Song Peoples Sessions project

2011-09-29T20:54:00.000+09:30

I just wanted to share this lovely photo that Ant from the Ngukurr Arts took of me working with the Ngukurr Marra gang today. We were going through some Marra songs that were recorded a couple of months ago as part of the Song Peoples Sessions project run by Winanjjikari Music Centre and Barkly Regional Arts.

It was a good session and the translations and transcriptions will be published soon, along with a collection of songs from a range of endangered languages throughout the region. One of the old ladies here had already done a great job transcribing and translating the songs a couple of months back. We're just doing a bit of a clean up. Good work team!

Lovely photo, I reckon.

And here's a blogpost about the Marra part of the Song Peoples Session project. Keep an eye for the CD when it's released!

Gani n-marranguru gana ngarl-umindini

2011-09-05T19:54:00.002+09:30

Here's a photo of my "office" for the afternoon:

I sat down here with BR, FR and JJ to transcribe a story in Marra old MT had recorded with me last week. It's a great story about two men who encountered a submarine in the Gulf of Carpentaria while hunting for dugong but had no idea what it was. Initially, they thought it was a rainbow serpent.

Kudos to the language mob here for their wonderful work and contributions: MTs story was great and well told and this arvo BR and FR helped me plough through the 7-minute recording in just two hours, completing a nice transcription and Kriol translation.

I have to share the bit that I loved the most, from when the army guys encountered the two Marra hunters:

"Ngarl-urrumanji Ingglish?"
Gani n-marranguru gana ngarl-umindini.

Translation:
"Do you two speak English?"
Only heads were speaking.

Inferring that they just stood there and shook their heads. How lovely is that! :-)

Welcome to the Art Centre

2011-09-02T12:28:00.000+09:30

So I'm in Ngukurr again and have been hanging around the Art Centre a bit. They asked me to help with getting 'welcome' messages done in language, which has been kinda fun. MT did the Marra one first:

Ngarlarla ginya nuwu-minay ninya gana jarag-niwijujunyi waya-wayarra nuwu-minay.

Kriol and English translations:

Yumob gaman iya, yumob garra luk dijan weya mela meigimbat, nathakain yumob garra luk.

Come here and you will see what we’ve been making. You’ll see different kinds of things.

And then the next day, Rek-Rek did a Ritharrŋu version:

Gayunu nhuma nhäŋu yakun'na gamunuŋgu-mala ŋuli napu djaŋ'guŋu.

Kriol and English translations:

Yumob gaman luk dijan ola peinting, weya mela bin duwum.

You are welcome here to look at all the paintings we've been making.

Was kinda fun thinking about Ritharrŋu again!

What's also been fun is helping the French volunteer at the Art Centre straighten out some of the Marra that old MT has been teaching her. There's another Marra student! She didn't know anything about Marra grammar, spelling or phonology but did her best. Hopefully my tips have helped and she can learn a bit more. Good on MT for being such a warhorse of Marra language maintenance.

Stirring quotes from Aboriginal educators

2011-08-25T23:40:00.001+09:30

Today I've been working on my submission for the Federal Government's Inquiry into Language Learning in Indigenous Communities. As part of my research for my submission, I was searching for quotes from Aboriginal educators in support of bilingual education and Indigenous language education. When I assembled the quotes, I found it pretty much heartbreaking to see the passion that is there when at the same time Indigenous language education is being denied because of the NT Government's ridiculous Compulsory Teaching in English for the First Four Hours policy. Here's what I found today:

What we want is both-way teaching in the school – not only for two hours a week but everyday there should be both-way teaching… That policy of speaking English only at the school is the wrong thing – it is not good for our children … they will forget their language

- Rembarrnga speaker Miliwanga Sandy (Beswick Community) (in Gosford 2009).

I am a qualified bilingual teacher… I speak several Yolŋu matha languages and English fluently. I have thirty-two years teaching experience… I have been told that I am not allowed to use the children’s language anymore… I already know that the children won’t understand what I’m saying, they will laugh at me, and they may even misbehave because they’ll be bored and won’t know what the lessons are about… What a strange role model I will be, a bilingual Yolŋu teacher, using only one of my languages!... The decision to make English the only important language in our schools will only make the situation for our young people worse as they struggle to be proud Yolŋu in a world that is making them feel that their culture is bad, unimportant and irrelevant in the contemporary world.

- Yalmay Yunupingu (2010: 24-25).

When a new principal comes to a Warlpiri school they are not to come and change the Bilingual Program. Never. Lajamanu school should always teach in both Warlpiri and English .

- Warlpiri Teachers at Lajamanu (1999: 54).

The children need to learn their own language… kids need to be able to read and write Tiwi because that is what they will speak forever. Understanding in other subject areas is facilitated by covering that area in both Tiwi and English.

- People of Nguiu (1999: 17).

The task ahead is to convince the NT Department of Education and the Commonwealth Government that Yolŋu languages and our knowledge systems are as important to us as English and its ideas… The current system does not take into account our Yolŋu Garma curriculum or Yolŋu ‘both ways’ pedagogy and curriculum. Our job as educators is to convince the people who control mainstream education that we wish to be included. Until this happens assimilation is still the name of the game, and reconciliation is an empty word, an intellectual ‘terra nullius’

- Raymatjja Marika (1999: 119).

Areyonga School is a bilingual school, where we teach the children to first learn to read, write and do maths in Pitjantjatjara. Our kids do not understand much English when they start school. If we teach them only in English, they will not understand… Our children who are good at reading and writing in Pitjantjatjara are also the same ones who are good at reading and writing English… How can you tell us the teachers must use only English even if the children don’t understand what they are saying? We want our children to become literate in both English and Pitjantjatjara. This is very imporant to us. Our bilingual program works…

- Areyonga community (2008).

Strong words. I hope the government hears them. (If they don't, I have plenty more quotes I can throw at them...)

Sources:

Areyonga Community. (2008). Letter to the Honourable Minister Marion Scrymgour MLA. Retrieved August 25, 2011, from http://www.crikey.com.au/Media/docs/081114-Areyonga-4a2601f1-3e9a-4847-aa17-c4f5b18a9949.pdf

Gosford, B. (2009). Miliwanga Sandy – language is our culture, our life, our identity. Retrieved November 4, 2009, from http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2009/06/25/miliwanga-sandy-language-is-our-culture-our-life-our-identity/

Marika, R. (1999). Milthun Latju Wäŋa Romgu Yolŋu: Valuing Yolŋu Knowledge in the Education System. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous Issues. 16: 107-120.

People of Nguiu (1999). The Closure of the Northern Territory Bilingual Education Program: An open letter from the people of Nguiu. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous Issues.16: 16-17.

Warlpiri Teachers at Lajamanu. (1999) History of the Lajamanu School Bilingual Program. Ngoonjook: a journal of Australian Indigenous Issues.16: 51-54.

Yunupingu, Y. (2010). Bilingual Works. Australian Educator. 66: 24-25.

Federal inquiry into Indigenous languages and other good news stories

2011-07-13T03:12:00.001+09:30

I tend to complain a lot more than celebrate when I look at how Australia as a nation treats Indigenous languages. Well, I'm pleased to share a few recent happenings that have left me feeling optimistic and a bit warm and fuzzy (for a change).

First and foremost, the Federal Government has announced a full-blown parliamentary inquiry into "Language Learning in Indigenous Communities". This took me completely by surprise and totally blew my away! I have a real sense of hope with this. As was pointed out by Frank Baarda at Yuendumu, what's really great is the tone of this inquiry, which is framed very positively. It talks of 'benefits' and 'contributions' that Indigenous languages make and that avoids ethnocentricity. Often, policy discussions of anything Indigenous can tend towards talking more of deficits, issues and problems. I've copied the blurb of the inquiry's media release at the bottom of this post.

Oh yeah, and please consider making a submission! (By August 19). Instructions on how to do so are here. It's not hard!

The other two nice little news items:

This story that aired on NT Stateline last week about a language revitalisation at Elliott school for the Mudburra language. I've been a long term critic of how the NT Education Dept treats Aboriginal languages, even though there are many within the department who work hard to support them. It's nice that some of the good work is publicised in this story. I also like the subtle messages about improved attendance and the need to resource language programs in the story that hopefully are taken up by others within NT DET.

Lastly, we now have a version of our national anthem in the Luritja language! Neat!

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Media Release: New federal parliamentary inquiry on Indigenous languages

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House of Representatives - Email alert service
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Friday 8 July 2011

Language learning in Indigenous communities

The role of Indigenous languages in Closing the Gap and improving outcomes for Indigenous communities is the subject of a new inquiry by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. The inquiry will examine the benefits of giving recognition to Indigenous languages, and how Indigenous languages can used in education to improve competency in English. In addition, the inquiry will examine current maintenance and revitalisation programs for Indigenous languages.

This is the first parliamentary inquiry to examine the direct contribution that the learning of Indigenous languages can make to overcoming disadvantage and achieving competency in English language. The Chair of the Committee Mr Shayne Neumann MP stated, “This is a topical inquiry to be launching during NAIDOC week – a week in which we celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Australia’s Indigenous people. Language is such an important part of a person’s culture and identity. By examining how we can give attention and proper recognition to Indigenous languages in Australia, we are also walking the path of reconciliation by giving attention and proper recognition to Indigenous cultures and identities.”

Mr Neumann added, “Our Committee’s recent report into the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system, Doing time – time for doing, found that self-healing and connection to culture programs have been highly effective in getting people back on track. Additionally we found that Indigenous language interpreting and translating services were inadequate, particularly in remote communities.”

“There seems to be a belief in Australia that we are a monolingual nation and that only Standard Australian English can benefit a person, both educationally and vocationally. If we look outside of Australia, the evidence is overwhelmingly to the contrary. The benefits of being able to speak multiple languages are tangible, particularly in Europe. The Committee aims to look at what’s working, as well as looking for innovative measures to improve competency in English in communities where English is a second language.”

The Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and the Minister for the Arts have asked the Committee to inquire into and report on language learning in Indigenous communities. The Committee will broadly examine the benefits of giving attention and recognition to Indigenous languages, with a focus on:
· The contribution of Indigenous languages to Closing the Gap and strengthening Indigenous identity and culture
· The potential benefits of including Indigenous languages in early education and measures to improve English competency and education outcomes in Indigenous communities
· The effectiveness of current maintenance and revitalisation programs for Indigenous languages, and
· The effectiveness of the Commonwealth Government Indigenous languages policy in delivering its objectives and relevant policies of other Australian governments.

The Committee invites submissions to the inquiry by 19 August 2011.

Semantic theories

2011-07-10T14:27:00.003+09:30

This is one for the linguists... A naive question I'd like to put out there:

I really enjoy semantics: thinking and writing about word meanings, cross-linguistic translatability and all the other juicy stuff you get when you really try and pin down meanings of words, morphemes, phrases etc. which are usually tantalisingly slippery and have lovely fuzzy boundaries.

But!

When it comes to semantic theories, I just haven't come across one that I've liked. I've looked a little bit at NSM and am now learning a bit about frame semantics, but theories like this bother me. They all seem to have quite a lot of limitations, so much so that I wonder how useful they really are. Why can't we just write detailed semantic descriptions of words/morphemes/phrases etc. and leave it at that?

This really is an issue I'm grappling with because my PhD thesis will hopefully be a lot about semantics, but I have this chip on my shoulder about semantic theories.

Thought?Comments?Feelings?

Nga-gin.garra na-Jidni-yurr, nga-jurra na-Balda-yurr / I'm here in Sydney and going to Boulder!

2011-07-05T07:28:00.002+09:30

Just a quick Hi while I have a few hours to kill in Sydney Airport.

After a few great weeks out bush (that I haven't described in nearly enough detail here), I'm off on a whole different cultural experience. And believe me, compared to what I'm used to, sitting in a fancy cafe in Sydney Airport about to board a plane for America is definitely a cultural experience for me.

I'm off to Boulder, Colorado to attend the 2011 Linguistics Institute, which is a summer school held bi-annually that attracts a lot of very clever linguists who come from all over the globe to deliver short courses on specialised topics. I'm excited and a bit nervous and going in expecting it to be an awful lot of work and assignments. As my Facebook friends may already know, I was also very pleased to see that my accommodation at the uni is very close to the tennis courts, so my beloved Babolat racquet has a prized place in my suitcase. :)

But I'm also excited about being challenged and learning lots. The courses I've chosen are:
- Frame Semantics and Verb Constructions
- Intro to Morphology
- Dialectology and
- Pidgin and Creole languages: a linguistic, historical and cognitive overview

As they say in Iceland: Mjög spennandi! (Very exciting!)

Lucky me

2011-06-26T10:52:00.002+09:30

How do I even explain how awesome, yet somehow unremarkable, last night was. Actually, I think it's unremarkable-ness is what made is so awesome...

Last night, I was treated to 90 minutes of basically a private show of the most stunning traditional songs (Manikay) sung by my three wäwa (brothers), DW, BW and RW, accompanied on yiḏaki (didj) by our uncle DW. The reason I got to experience this is because young DW asked me the other day, rather shyly, if I had a recorder because he wanted to record old RW singing some songs that he wanted to make sure he'd learn properly. I've known DW for years now and he is a bit younger than me but a really great traditional singer and has been touring with the Australian Art Orchestra for several years on the Crossing Roper Bar collaboration. I was more than happy to help and I'm glad I did.

It happened so organically - go and pick up DW, go see BW and RW. Go find the 'bambu man' (didj player). Sit down, warm up and away they went. They sung Djambarrpuyŋu Manikay about wind then followed with Wägilak Manikay about waṯa. I sat in the middle with my little recorder, surrounded by three guys belting out song cycle after song cycle with clapsticks pounding away and the didj doing its accompanying thing too. Just great. DW on the didj was awesome too - he had his mobile phone hanging around his neck and was using it to record bits of the session too! Only bad thing was they sung for so long my bum got sore and my bare feet and hands were dinner for a number of mozzies. And this music is probably wasted on me too - I like it but don't know much about it so can't fully appreciate what I'm hearing.

The session finally ended and the recording sounded pretty good (I'll listen to it properly today). We all went home back to our mundane Saturday evenings as though nothing special had just happened. But is was really pretty special if you ask me. I especially love that this great thing happened, not at my instigation but at the request of DW and that they did it all just for themselves, their families and for the maintaining of these songs. I was just the munanga that was in a position to help. Lucky me.

Heard of 'slow food'? How about 'slow fieldwork'...

2011-05-22T11:19:00.007+09:30

My last couple of trips to Ngukurr to continue fieldwork on Marra have seen a slightly interesting development. Me and the Marra gang I work with at Ngukurr have continued our work nicely, going through old untranscribed recordings and also making new ones. What's changed on the past couple of trips is how we've been doing the transcriptions and translations.

Last year when we started, most of the time I'd play recordings and the Marra gang would listen, repeat the Marra for me and translate it into Kriol, and I would enter it straight into ELAN. This is, I guess, a fairly standard way for linguists to work, with the linguist being the scribe and generally it was efficient and rewarding.

But some sessions I'd encourage them to do the transcribing and practice/develop their Marra literacy skills. We had one long recording in particular that was perfect for this where the recording contained English translations and the Marra was only words and basic sentences. Most of the other recordings are higher level texts where the Marra comes thick and fast, so not so well suited for training purposes.

But that was last year - fast forward to this year and two of the old ladies I work most with may have invented what I could jestingly describe as 'slow fieldwork', analogous to the 'slow food' movement that gets bandied about.

On the last few trips, whenever we've gathered to do transcription, BR and FR get their books out and write down everything, no matter what the text is or how hard and fast the language is. It takes a lot longer, but it's so great that they want to do that - I don't have the heart to be a bossy, efficient time-manager and say 'No books today, just tell me what they're saying and what it means'.

On the downside, this way of working is sooooo laborious. BR and FRs Marra literacy skills are good (BRs are pretty great actually), but still, long words will throw them, consonant clusters will throw them and they concentrate so much on transcribing that sometimes they're not focused on good translation. It can really test my patience. Like, a long word comes up that I'll spell for them, then when it comes up two sentences later they sometimes act like they've never seen the word written before when they only wrote it 10 minutes ago! Haha... makes me weak. In January when the Australian Open was on, I confess, I was simultaneously on ELAN and checking the tennis scores on the internet while the Marra gang were taking ages to write to down a word or a sentence. Haha... poor things.

But, on the plus side it's great that they are so involved in the transcription process. It's great that they are using and developing Marra literacy skills and through this process, it makes the recordings and transcriptions so much more meaningful and useful because they've done it themselves. When I type it up nicely and give them a printed copy of the transcript, it's not a foreign object, it's their work.

A lot is made of the notion of linguists giving back to the community, but what constitutes 'giving back' seems rarely to be defined or discussed. Another scenario of working through these old recordings would be that I sit in my office, transcribe and translate as much as I can on my own, mark the bits I'm not sure about and then go out bush with a list of questions that will allow me to fill in my knowledge gaps. Then I could 'give back' by presenting speakers with a CD and transcript of a Marra text. I would guess they'd like it and be happy with it and interested, but because their engagement with the process was somewhat limited, their engagement with the results would assumedly be equally limited.

I like to think that with 'slow fieldwork', the engagement with the process is maximised and so community development benefits are maximised (even though my patience at times suffers greatly, as does the speed of my workflow when deadline pressures are on the horizon). But by making the most of the process, I would argue that its easier to make more out of the product. Ultimately, it's my hope that what we're doing is a good way for a linguist like me to do 'giving back'.

Working from home

2011-05-06T15:25:00.003+09:30

So I'm now 14 months into this PhD thing. (I refer to it as 'PhD thing' because it seems to be an amorphous beast that I rarely have my head around). My time so far has been spent rotating between Canberra (where my uni is), Katherine (where my home is) and Ngukurr/Numbulwar (where the speakers of the languages I'm studying/learning are).

My time in Canberra and out bush (Ngukurr/Numbulwar) are generally very fruitful and in both those locations I find it easy to be inspired by others around me. In Canberra - clever, knowledgable and inspiring linguists and in Ngukurr/Numbulwar - clever, knowledgable and inspiring elders. Working from home in Katherine has been the least inspiring place for me to focus on my studies. Firstly, I get caught up in other things happening around town, ranging from the tennis club, netball comp, interpreting, exciting visitors to catch up with, home renovations, etc. Secondly, working from home is not always the most conducive space for studying - the TV is always nearby, it's easy to sleep in and I'm not being held very accountable for my diligence or lack thereof.

However, all that changed recently, after investing in a fancy new desk and office set-up. It's re-inspired me and the past few days I've found myself doing all the right things to make this PhD thing unfold successfully: reading, backing up, processing recordings, adding to my dictionary database, even writing rough thesis notes.

Here's what my office set-up looks like now. I'm quite pleased with it! And that desk took 3.5 hours to put together which was gratifying in itself!

Why I don't care about ANZAC day

2011-04-27T16:22:00.005+09:30

ANZAC day came and went and, yet again, I found myself not caring and not getting it and wondering what the fuss is about. I feel like I'm being very un-PC and un-Australian way to think this way.

I think the reason behind my feelings is that I question why there is so much hype and energy spent on ANZAC day - over the sporadic innocent deaths that have happened to our troops over the years - when the death and violence that was so prevalent in frontier Australia is virtually ignored. So many innocent Aboriginal people died and it's heartbreaking and unacknowledged and we are still dealing with consequences, especially here in the NT.

It didn't happen very long ago.

This arvo I again picked up John Harris' Northern Territory Pidgins and the Origins of Kriol which paints a vivid socio-historical picture of the NT when pidgin spread and Kriol developed. I'd like to share a section I hadn't read before today. It features a piece written by Robert Morice in 1885, published in the South Australian Register. Morice was the Protector of the Aboriginal for the Northern Territory but was 'got rid of for doing his duty in defence of the blacks' (SAR 23 Dec. 1885:4, in Harris 1986:219). Morice reveals violence that occurred in the Daly River region (not very far from Katherine) in retaliation for the murder of four white people in 1884. The retaliation consisted of 1) the official police party, 2) a private reprisal party and 3) another unofficial party.

Morice wrote the following to a South Australian newspaper:

While Inspector Foelsche and a police party were out securing the actual murderers, another party consisting of non-official persons, but armed and provisioned by the Government, were let loose to act as they thought best ... The men who formed this party insisted that they should be allowed to go unaccompanied by a single policeman. The Minister of Justice and Education is reported to have hesitated about giving his consent to their going, but finally yielded to the urgency of the Government Resident, who strongly pressed it. As a salve to his conscience, or to save appearances, he gave, however instructions that they were on no account to fire on he natives unless in self-defence.

What this party did has never been made public, but the officers on board the S.S. Palmerston, which was lying in the Daly River ... say that all one night they heard a constant discharge of firearms. There was good moonlight at the time. The general belief in the Territory was that they simply shot down every native they saw, women and children included. While this was going on three teamsters reported that they had been attacked by the natives at Argument Flat. The teamsters resisted, and shot five or six of them. There were three weak points in their tale. None of the teamsters were wounded; it is unusual for natives to attack in the bold way described; and, lastly, it was admitted that there were women with the natives (one of the killed was a lubra, I think). Now it is well known that natives when they mean mischief always keep their women out of the way ... The Government Resident, as soon as he heard of the affair, arranged that another non-official party should be armed and sent out to follow up the natives. They were sent out, and returned in due time, reporting that they did not fall in with any natives. Of course the party were not asked to account for the Government ammunition they took away; and a few days after some of the men were boasting over their cups that they had shot forty-seven, including women and children ... It is difficulu to say how many natives have been killed for the Daly River outrage, but from all I have heard from different sources, I should say not less than 150, an great part of these women and children ... (South Australian Register, 5 June 1885:7)

(in Harris 1986:218-9)

This is just one story of many similar stories in Harris' book, which is one of many similar books which tell tales of horrible unjust frontier violence.

On ANZAC day you'd say 'Lest We Forget'.

I don't know what I should say in relation to these stories.... sometimes it makes me sad... sometimes it just pisses me off and I want to say 'fucking redneck arsehole war criminal bastards who were never served justice for what they've done and whose descendants are probably living comfortable lives while the Aboriginal families of victims are still suffering'.

But I'm not sure what use it would be to say that, so I won't.

Intervention petition

2011-03-30T08:42:00.002+09:30

I've been reminiscing lately and had a read through some of my blog posts from years back when I would post really regularly. (Okay, not so much reminiscing as procrastinating from study, perhaps). The blog posts that got the biggest responses were about the first community meetings after the Intervention was announced (see here and here). I still regard the Intervention as one of the nails in the coffin that caused me to burnout and leave Ngukurr after three years of successful work. It was so demoralising to have something so huge dumped on you from 'above'. And I wasn't even an Aboriginal resident!

The issue of the Intervention is ongoing. Many feel it is contributing to town-drift which is in turn leading to worsening homelessness, crappier housing situations, increased crime etc. The NT Government's silly 'Growth Towns' policy and neglect of outstations/small communities is also to blame, in my opinion. Oh, and check out Ngukurr mob talking about how they were duped into thinking the Intervention would drastically improve the housing situation at Ngukurr when they signed over a township lease to the government. This excellent piece aired on NT Stateline in Nov 2010.

Ok, to get to the petition mentioned in the post title, the UN's High Commissioner for Racial Discrimination, Navi Pillay, is visiting Australia in May. A mob have put up an online petition that you can look at here:

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/44188.html

The wording goes:

To: UN Human Rights Commissioner

Dear Navi Pillay,

Welcome to Australia.

We are calling on you to encourage Government to end the Northern Territory Intervention and to restore the rights of Aboriginal people. The people were not consulted before the Intervention nor have they given their consent to it.

Control over land and communities must be returned to Aboriginal people. Changes to the law are urgently needed to restore and protect the rights of Aboriginal peoples in the NT to determine their own futures. We ask you for your assistance.

I'm not sure how useful petitions like these are, but hey, can't hurt to try.

Useless bank

2011-03-16T19:38:00.002+09:30

It's been said before but life in remote communities is tough.

I've been helping the language gang at Ngukurr to establish themselves as an independent organisation to re-start the language revitalisation activities they were carrying out for years under the auspices of the now-crippled Katherine Language Centre. The Ngukurr group have held meetings and taken all the right steps to get established. Next on the list is to open a bank account. At a meeting, they decided on signatories and chose ANZ as their preferred bank (one of three major banks with branches in Katherine), all sensible and following the right processes.

So today I went to ANZ to get the account-opening process started. The good news was that the Ngukurr mob have done everything right and have everything they need. Just one "simple" step that actually wasn't simple at all and really pissed me off...

"So the signatories just need to come in to the branch and then we can set up the account".

Sounds so simple! Except that they're in Ngukurr which is 320kms away, which gets cut off by road for up to 6 months a year, which is happening now and until maybe June. Plus they're old, not always in great health and live off of Centrelink pensions.

"What's the provision for people in remote communities who can't get into town? Surely they could get certified copies of all their documentation", I asked.

"Sorry, there's nothing we can do."

"So what happens when people physically can't come to the branch? There has to be some provision for that?"

"Sorry, that's just how it is."

I'd hit a brick wall with zero compassion from the bank staff I was talking to. There was nothing I could do but just leave, displeased (to put it mildly).

Displeased and thinking what a crap policy that is. We're talking about an account for a not-for-profit community organisation here. And the bank is saying that all signatories, who are all old and live off Centrelink benefits, are required to make an impossible journey just so they can bank with no-compassion ANZ?

Talk about putting up brick walls to good people in remote communities who are just trying to do something positive.

I'm still angry.

When I got home I phoned ANZ to repeat my inquiry and I was given the same line. Which was awful, but then I asked how I can make a complaint, which I did and they now have to attend to my complaint. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Unless there's a change in what the ANZ is saying, the options for the group are to have another official meeting and change the bank of choice (I know Commonwealth accepts certified copies) or magically find $2200 to fly the signatories in just so they can 'present' at the bank. Or wait 2-3 until the roads clear and go to the branch that way, which is still expensive as well as a big waste of time.

It's not fair at all. A big fat thumbs down to ANZ. Boooooooooo!!!!

32 hours from Ngukurr to Katherine

2011-02-12T15:57:00.008+09:30

Wet season travel in the Top End is never straight-forward. Ngukurr is cut off by road for 4-5 months every wet season, thanks to the Wilton and Roper Rivers rising and making crossing impossible. When it really rains hard, more crossings become impassable and it can turn into a nightmare.

I was ready to leave Ngukurr in mid-Jan after a two week trip, right in the middle of the wet season. I'd booked my 4WD on the barge, which would take me up the river, bypassing the flooded crossings, and from there it's just a 3 hour drive back home to Katherine. A 5-hour trip all up - not much longer than the 4 hour dry-season trip.

But the night before I was due to leave it rained and rained all night. Enough for me to be woken by splat.... splat... splat... near my head as the pounding rain found a way to squeeze itself ever-so-slightly through the roof. In the morning, I knew it would be touch-and-go as to whether my planned trip was achievable. After getting as much info as I could, I decided to go for it, and went through with my Roper River barge trip.

The barge trip was great and the rain was holding off (just), although the chances of flooded crossings had already been determined by the previous night's rain. At the end of the barge trip is Roper Bar Store, the only shop, fuel and accommodation for 200km when the Roper crossing is flooded. With no news about whether I could get through to Mataranka (and subsequently Katherine), I set off to test my luck.

For the next 40-60km the road is dirt and with all the wet weather, it was slushy. Go 4WD go! No problem though - I made it to the bitumen and was starting to get hopeful. Until I reached Strangways. Bloody Strangways.

The most enormous floodway I've ever seen, stretching about 500m around a corner. It was sitting on 0.6m. Too much for my Nissan Patrol? My thoughts were yes, don't cross it. Next thing, I watch a Troopy full of community mob creep through from the otherside. I talked to them and felt like I couldn't do what they had done. After some deliberations, I had to decide - Do I cross? Do I wait here, potentially overnight? Do I go back to Roper Bar Store and get a bed for the night in their basic motel? Nup. I want a bed and shower. So I drove the 90km trip back to Roper Bar Store, where I spent a very lonely night in the accommodation compound, all by myself, no phone, no internet, no TV, no company and plenty of time to wonder about what gushing Strangways might be doing in the morning.

8am Saturday, 21 hours into my trip from hell, I set off again down the slushy dirt part of the Roper Highway, which I think included a moment of lost traction and a slide to the road shoulder. (Oops... is the 4WD actually working on this thing?). By 10am, I was climbing the last rise before Strangways, wondering what I'd find. And then I found it:

Ack! It still looked like the most enormous floodway in the world, stretching way around the corner. But! It had dropped to 0.4m (well, 0.4m at the start part at least). So what to do now? It's probably passable. But it's flowing quickly. And what's my 4WD like - I've never put it in low gear before. Okay, I'll just watch it for a while, see if it's going down and wait for someone to come along so I can get some advice.

After 15 minutes, I could tell the level was dropping, ever so slowly. Great! I'll be able to get out of here today, surely. The rain is holding off, the water's dropping. I'll just wait a bit until it drops to a comfortable level and/or until someone comes along and can help me.

Waiting. After one hour, it'd dropped maybe 1cm. No one had come. Waiting. Another hour. Yep, still dropping, yep, still no one had come. Let's try walking into it. Wait, what's the grunting sound? Is there a cow stuck in a tree somewhere in the floodway? This water's flowing pretty quick - okay, maybe I won't walk into it too far. Someone will come along soon, surely.

Lunchtime now. Still waiting. Okay, breathe and relax. Make a sandwich with your last bits of food and enjoy the Iced Coffee (Territory's own Pauls Iced Coffee, of course!) I'd been saving. Someone will come. The water will go down.

Still waiting. 2pm now. Shit. No-one's come. Everyone must think it's impassable. That's not going to give me confidence to cross it.

At this point, I'm getting pretty stressed. I want to go home. I'm sick of waiting for water to go down. It's 28 hours since I left Ngukurr. I'm sunburned (forgot sunscreen, of course!). I go for a short drive and test out my 4WD low-gear driving. I go back...

Okay, it's definitely below 0.4m now. Let's walk through it...

So I walked the entire 500m stretch of flooded Strangways, not even letting the possibility of certain reptiles being there cross my mind. It was up to my knees in the deepest parts and felt strong but not too strong. The road didn't feel slippery. After 15 or so mins, I got to the other end, where I couldn't even see my 4WD waiting patiently for me. I walked back. Okay, one more hour and then you will just have to go for it.

4pm: I hear someone coming! From the other side, ever so slowly, a 4WD full of people I know from Ngukurr were coming through. I waited and watched and they made it - cautiously but without a problem. I asked, "Im rait det roud? Mi nyip ba krosim" (Is the road okay? I can't bring myself to cross it). "Im rait," came the reply. 'Just take it slow - 1st gear on low, stay in the middle, keep your position and look where you're going'. 'Okay, I'll give it a go. Can you watch me?'. They were rushing to get to Roper Bar store before it closed and really didn't have any time, but yeah, they could watch me. I was and am still so grateful. It was RR who said some words that in my state of anxiety really helped and I can't remember exactly what she said now, but her words really helped and included her telling me: "Yu garra trastim mijel" - You have to trust yourself. :-)

So I gave it a go and trundled into the water. Through the water. Through the water. Through the water. Started rounding the corner. Waved to my 'support crew' who then sped off to Roper Bar Store. Trundled through more water and yes, finally, I made it to the other side and Strangways was finally behind me.

2 hours later, I made it home. Tired, burned and traumatised. Then Bernard Tomic and Sam Stosur both lost in the Australian Open. But I was home, 32 hours after I started what was not a pleasant trip.

Nga-gin.garra / Here I am

2011-01-17T18:30:00.000+09:30

Nga-gin.garra!

Jawayiga! :)

45 years in a day - Marra's remarkable resilience

2011-01-13T18:02:00.003+09:30

Today was a fairly average day for my fieldwork in Ngukurr. Average, yet remarkable.

Me and the Marra mob I work here with did two sessions today and did some good work on Marra. But just in those two short sessions, we spanned a 45-year period, exemplifying that the Marra language is actually being remarkably resilient given the sociocultural situation it finds itself in.

This morning BR, JJ and FR worked with me and I encouraged them to continue some Marra literacy and transcription practice. So we used an archived recording made in 1966 by Margaret Sharpe and Stanley Roberts. It's a great recording to listen to and use for transcription training. The words and sentences aren't too fast and complex and we get to chuckle and Margaret and Old Stanley's not-quite-perfect Marra and English skills. It's also great that such an old recording is lively again.

In the afternoon session, I had a go at doing my own elicitation session with FR and MT. BR and GB where there for back-up help too. It went well and went for just over an hour. Along with going over some sentences that I was curious about for my own Marra acquisition, I wanted to test out a few distinctive Kriol words and sentences and see how the old ladies interpret them into Marra.

For example, there's a lovely Kriol idiom imin gibit mijel which is derived from the English he/she gave herself but actually means he/she scrammed/ran off quickly. The Marra equivalent?

wu-wajirlana
3sg-gaveRECIP
He gave himself / Imin gibit mijel

Cool! A nice parallel Marra/Kriol idiom.

Those old ladies told me lots more cool things in Marra this afternoon and at the end, I just couldn't help thinking how nice it is to be doing this sort of work in 2011, 45 years after Margaret Sharpe and Stanley Roberts sat down and did a similar thing.

So happy that Marra language has stuck around this long.

Today's Kriol lesson

2011-01-11T19:15:00.005+09:30

I'm still finding out new Kriol words and constructions even though I've been learning Kriol since 2004. This is exciting for me and a constant reminder of just how intricate and complex Kriol can be. It's so easy to just see the English-related surface of Kriol and miss all the juicy stuff going on behind the scenes.

So today two young guys DR and KM were starting to transcribe a recording we'd made of them and I learned a couple of things.

A new word: medrim. I'd listened to it on the recording but had no clue what the word was. The example sentence:

Kriol: Ai garra medri im tha'n
Gloss: I FUT beat+Tr him/her "that one"
English: I'll flog her.

Don't ask me where the word medrim comes from. I have no idea as of yet.

Note also the contractions and dropping of sounds that happen all the time in the normal speech of your average Roper Kriol speaker. In the above sentence, medrim gets shortened to medri and tha'n is actually a contraction of tharran which is a derivation of the English, that one.

There are lots of contractions and shortcuts being made in Roper Kriol that I'm still learning about. The new one I learned today: gitbat. It's a shortened form of gibitbat: gibit is from the English give-it and -bat is a progressive aspect marker (like -ing in English). The example sentence:

Kriol (normal speech): Yulu'im im gitbat im, ngabi.
Kriol (slow speech): Yu luk im, im gibitbat im, ngabi
English translation: Look, he's giving it to him, isn't he.

Very cool. And I just love teaching people how to transcribe their own recordings in ELAN. DR and KM had a first try today, were getting into it and I'm encouraging them to keep going. Fingers crossed.

gossip circles

2010-12-04T18:27:00.004+09:30

I love the network of gossip around remote communities (or in any small community, I suppose). The intricate communication networks are quite astounding. A nice little example I was involved in was yesterday:

4pm: JJ calls from Ngukurr. I was in a meeting so didn't answer phone. JJ then calls CK who was in the same meeting. CK answered and put me on the phone. JJ's two daughters are travelling and in Katherine and could I lend them some money for their dinner tonight. "OK, no worries, I'll sort it out after the meeting".

5:30pm: Went to see IP who I knew would know where the two girls were so I could give them some money. Yes, she knew where they were so off I went on my scooter to lend them $50.

5:45pm: Arrived at place where 2 girls were staying. Gave them $50. They laughed because they were hoping to get a lift to Red Rooster to buy some dinner, but they didn't know I was travelling by scooter. They also laughed: "Did IP tell you about almost sliding off the Wilton River crossing today"? No, she didn't.

9pm: See IP. "Hey you didn't tell me about nearly sliding off the Wilton River Crossing!". IP: "Haha.. who told you!?"

Next morning: JJ calls from Ngukurr. "Ah the girls thought it was so funny when you turned up in the scooter". Me: "Haha... they told you already?"

Too quick these stories go around! :)

untie me barry!

2010-11-16T15:49:00.005+09:30

A munanga friend was telling me a funny story the other day, which I hope she doesn't mind me repeating here.

She got a text message from a Kriol-speaking relative but she didn't know who it was from. The number wasn't stored in her phone. So she replied with a 'who's this?' type message and then the reply came...

"untie me barry"

This SMS caused quite a bit of confusion. Untie him? Why, what's happened? Has he been locked up? Is someone holding him captive? Knowing that Kriol speakers are susceptible to not expressing themselves perfectly clearly over text messages, she didn't completely panic. But still... 'untie me barry'?

After going back to the message about 5 times, finally it clicked. My friend was reading the stress wrong and the sender was using non-English spelling to show that he was 'writing' in Kriol. She finally decoded the message:

Aunty! Me, Barry!

Which in standard Kriol spelling, would read: Anti, mi, Barry.)

Too funny!

I love that Kriol speakers are getting into new literacy practices like you find in text messaging, email and facebook. These writing forms have a lot more in common with spoken language than traditional writing forms like letter-writing and prose do. So naturally, Kriol speakers want to capture Kriol in their text messages. But unless you've learned the standard writing system (only some have), then you just have to approximate and do the best you can. In terms of language development, this is exciting because it may mean that new standardised spellings may evolve, naturally.

But in the meantime, Barry's Aunty is happy that Barry isn't tied up at all. And next time he's texts her, she'll know who it is...

Gumbaynggirr piece by Aden Ridgeway wins UN media peace award!

2010-11-03T19:37:00.004+09:30

Last year I blogged about an opinion piece by Aden Ridgeway that was written in Gumbaynggirr and how cool it was. Well, it seems the UN also thought it was pretty cool because they gave it a media peace award! See an article about it here.

Good work Aden and also well done to those involved with the great work that seems to be going on in reviving Gumbaynggirr and making Muurrbay one of the best language centres in Australia (if not *the* best).

Ai nomo sabi tok Frentj

2010-07-18T11:47:00.002+09:30

hehehe... I was at the Katherine Markets yesterday drinking yummy coffee and socialising. I was chatting to a couple I've known for ages - one speaks Kriol as a first language, the other speaks English as a first language and both speak the other language well. Because I'd just spent a couple of weeks out bush, my Kriol was well-oiled so I was switching between Kriol and English as I was talking to them.

After speaking Kriol a bit, their son (all of 4) goes to me, "Are you speaking French?". Now, this kid can understand Kriol pretty well and hangs around Kriol speakers quite a lot, so I was surprised he thought I was speaking French. I laughed and told him "ai nomo sabi tok Frentj" (I don't know how to speak French) but he still kept asking if I was speaking French... too funny.

I realised that for him, the majority of non-English speaking white people he's met in his short life are probably French speakers and I'm guessing he'd be lucky if he's met many other white people who speak Kriol well. So I think his brain connected my skin colour to the most likely foreign language name associated with that skin colour and hey presto, I was speaking French, not Kriol!

Now if I only I could find a French speaking black person and then see if he thinks they're speaking Kriol! :-)

spreading more ELAN love

2010-07-11T19:40:00.002+09:30

Well, today was looking like a quiet Sunday in Ngukurr, working on my own processing some of the Marra recordings. Well, that's what I did in the morning, but after lunch, I thought I better go visit one of the old Marra ladies who I haven't had much of a chance to sit down with yet. Unfortunately, I couldn't find her, so instead I went to JJ's house and suggested I show the young women hanging around with not much to do (it's Sunday) a bit about processing language recordings using the ELAN program. It was a bit of a stab in the dark, but much to my surprise, the exercise caught on! So, I've just spent about 3 hours teaching two young women, with JJ there for support and supervision, how to transcribe recordings using ELAN. How fun! And they enjoyed it too!

This isn't the first time I've shown community language workers how to use ELAN (you can read a blogpost about a previous time here). Each time I've trained people on ELAN, it's been pretty much a raging success - very satisfying for me and satisfying for those learning. The girls I taught today picked it up very quickly and after 20 minutes, all they needed help with was a bit of Kriol spelling. There's something about ELAN that captures my 'students' attention - is it that they get to focus on a computer and the recording and not have to listen to a teacher drone away in English? They also get to have a giggle at the recording at any mistakes or funny things they say. Today, the girls just seemed to engage with it and happily spent a couple of hours working through a Kriol recording. I was quite pleased and surprised that this happened - especially as it was done so informally - on the verandah surrounded by dogs, TV on in the background, people constantly coming and going (and checking out what was going on too). What a productive way to spend my quiet Sunday afternoon!

What was also nice is that I learned a few more things about Kriol today. Which was nice, because it wasn't so much that there was anything in the recording I didn't understand, but rather by talking about some of the words with JJ and the girls and noticing their questions. For example (warning: linguist-talk follows...), the old lady talking on the recording, used the word gija a couple of times which is some sort of reciprocal/reflexive. The only other reciprocal/reflexive in Kriol is mijel. Much to my surprise, the young women unquestioningly wanted to transcribe gija as gijal. Young people say gijal! Who knew! We were all surprised at the young/old variation and I reckon that young people have changed gija to gijal to make it closer to mijel.

Another thing I noticed is the word usually written as thei in Kriol (from the English "they"): the girls asked if they should transcribe thei bin (they were) as thebin - one word, no diphthong. What a nice contraction - I never would've noticed it before and interesting that their instinct was to write it that way.

And they wrote the Kriol for "there" as ja - which is such a Ngukurr Kriol thing. The standard form is jeya or deya but no, it is so clearly ja here.

What I also liked about this exercise and ELAN in general is that it develops literacy skills really nicely - as long as you have some foundation to start from. They girls had some ideas on Kriol spelling but when you start transcribing and keep getting the same words, you really start to develop literacy skills. And I totally noticed how easy it was for them to engage in developing Kriol literacy - most likely because it's their first language (hello bilingual education?!) and because the spelling system is consistent (unlike English).

So that's my story of my surprising, impromptu, sitting-on-the-verandah-with-nothing-better-to-do, ELAN training session on a Sunday afternoon. :-)

warri-ngarlini (I returned)

2010-07-10T11:41:00.003+09:30

I suppose I should start posting again now that I'm back in Ngukurr and experiencing lots of neat things again and feeling removed from mainstream Australia (hence the need to write about my experiences to process them and share with others so to feel a little less alone). I'm now into the 'fieldwork' phase of my PhD studies which is the bit that I'm most excited about. I have to be honest and say that after spending so many years working so closely with Aboriginal (and a few Islander) people on their languages, I find University environments quite strange in that there you talk/hear about small, Indigenous languages a lot but in an environment that is removed from context. Even though I adjusted to that during my 3 months in Canberra, now that I'm back in Ngukurr, I can feel that disjunct unsettling me again. Or maybe it's just that I'm really enjoying being back here and feeling so satisfied to be involved in exciting on-the-ground work again.

This is only my second week back in Ngukurr but I feel like we've achieved lots already - and lo and behold all our plans have gone to plan! (It is one of my favourite personal achievements that I feel like I have learned to work collaboratively and effectively in Ngukurr - a skill that I reckon takes a few years to develop and certainly something that all young non-Indigenous professionals grapple with when they first try and work in communities - okay, I'm tooting my own horn a bit there but I'm on a bit of a high at the moment...)

So I got back to Katherine about a month ago after a really great three months in Canberra at ANU. It took a little while to adjust to University again and get my rusty academic brain exercised again. But I really enjoyed the environment there and there are lots of great linguists and students there - all doing interesting work throughout SEAsia, Australia and the Pacific. Certainly very stimulating and I've found coming back to 'the field', I'm better equipped to study, learn and engage with working on languages here.

Last week was my first few days in Ngukurr. I hadn't been here for nearly a whole year so it was great to see lots of old friends/adopted family and lovely to feel welcome. Also great was that the Marra mob I used to work with were more than happy to get stuck into working with me. I brought back a bunch of recordings from the AIATSIS archives in Canberra - the oldest dates from 1959 and features lots of long passed Marra people that old people here knew and hadn't heard for goodness-knows how long. Straightaway we got stuck into transcribing and translating some recordings that were never transcribed or translated before. Pretty exciting. My rusty Kriol and Marra skills are coming back to me pretty quickly and will hopefully keep developing.

After a quick break where I went to Darwin to meet with my supervisor, I'm back again this week and again, we got stuck into more work. On my second day back, the Marra mob and I started planning to head to Numbulwar where three old sisters and their younger brother live who are all really strong Marra speakers and use it everyday for general communication - something that I think is pretty rare for such an endangered language. And yesterday, we made our first trip there to meet with them. It was absolutely awesome. They spoke so much Marra I was grinning ear-to-ear and getting a little bit emotional too! We listened to some of the archived recordings together, made a few new recordings and started talking about my project to work towards 'informed consent' - the response so far is really positive which I find heartening.

So I'm really enjoying being able to hear so much Marra and concentrate on the language, as well as finding out more about Kriol, as well as working together with Marra people all-the-way. Very satisfied.

And some language tidbits:

Yesterday, the old ladies at Numbulwar clarified a word on the old recording that the Ngukurr mob didn't know and wasn't in Heath's grammar/dictionary: muwurl - which we now know is the tail part of a muwarda (canoe) but is different to the word for tail-of-a-dog (jigurr).

And on the Kriol side, I'm learning more verbs that aren't taken from English: JJ told me that ngum-ngum means hitting someone on the back and jawak is similar to gula (argue, fight, yell) but different because it's not targeted at anyone in particular - when you jawak it's like when you are really angry and broadcast your yelling publicly for everyone to hear.

2010 Update

2010-02-24T14:53:00.003+09:30

Well goodness. I started this blog what... 4-5 years ago? Originally it started because I was living out bush finding life and work tough and blogging/writing about it was a good way to process my thoughts and not feel quite so alienated. The past few years I've been living in town (the big smoke!) and that same motivation for blogging has waned. (I also blame facebook - it's so much easier to write a 1-2 sentence status update then form actual paragraphs!)

But anyways, I'm still here and still in the NT working on languages. The update for 2010 is that I've spent 18 months working at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education teaching language and linguistics courses to people from all over Australia and it's been mostly really really great. But always in the back of my mind were the languages and people I grew close to while working at Ngukurr for three years. And with the languages so critically endangered I had to make a choice. So now I'm off on my next adventure - a PhD! Goodness. I'm looking forward to the challenge and to learning new skills and geting more knowledge (and wisdom... and less hair) but most of all I'm looking forward to devoting an awful lot of time and energy to Marra language and people. There are only a few very old people who are really strong in Marra language and culture and I hope to do lots of work with them while they are still with us. So, next week I'm off to Canberra to get started with my PhD studies and I hope to be in the field before I know it, recording and documenting lots and lots of Marra language and stories. Wish me luck!

You never know - I may even start up with this blogging business again...

Ma. Guda.

former Senator Aden Ridgeway writing articles in English and Gumbaynggirr

2009-11-26T14:40:00.002+09:30

When was the last time you saw a piece in major daily newspaper written in both English and an Indigenous language? This is from Aden Ridgeway, who was a Senator in the Australian Parliament a few years back - one of the few Indigenous politicians that ever made to Canberra. (Noel Pearson has never made it that far!) Aden adds his voice to those critical of the NT Govt. policies on English teaching and Indigenous teaching education. Good article!

Please read it by following the link. (Copyright dictates I'm not allowed to post the text here...)

an ethical dilemma...

2009-11-09T19:26:00.003+09:30

Background: I'm still here at Kalkarindji where alcohol is banned from the community, as it was before and after the Australian Government's Intervention. There's a club here where you can go to have a beer after work, but only if you've been to work that day.

Situation: There are two visiting tradesmen (white (kartiya)) staying near where I am who are having a quiet drink after work. They are breaking one of the laws introduced across most of the Territory when the Intervention came into being.

Ethical Dilemma: Do I say something to the Federal Government rep who lives here when I'm on my way out of town or do I let it go? (There are quite a few pros and cons which I won't go into... I'm hoping I'll get some responses that will flesh them out anyway...)

Back at Kalkarindji

2009-11-09T17:41:00.003+09:30

Hello!

I'm in Kalkarindji for a week, delivering one of the language courses I teach to a small group of local woman who mostly work at the school. Today was the first day and it was a decent start to the week. The ladies seem keen and already skilled. Some speak Gurindji really well and have good literacy skills already. There are heaps of Gurindji books at the school and I brought a stack with me too. All really positive news - a fairly well resourced language with fairly strong speakers who are fairly literate and are fairly motivated. What more can you ask for?

The school has been really helpful and given students release to do their coursework and given us space in the library to do our work, so I have nothing but good things to say. But something interesting did happen when I was talking to a staff member about how exciting it is to have so much there all ready to capitalise on for a language and culture program. I was trying to tell them that here at Kalkarindji it's a similar situation to Numbulwar which has had the fortune of a well-funded program for decades now while Kalkarindji seems to have missed out. Numbulwar is a two-way school, you see. Oops, I mentioned the T-word which caused a bit of a reaction and I had to backpeddle and explain my point another way! Just lucky I didn't mention the 'B'-word!!

Also curious to note is that I was discouraged away from anything that might involve developing Gurindji literacy activities in the classroom... It seemed to be cloaked in pedagogical reasoning (e.g. oral language learning is better, using video is a great tool), but I have an inkling that there is a certain 4-Hours of English policy in the back of people's minds causing an 'oh-no, we can't have concerted efforts at quality teaching of an Indigenous language, including literacy and all!'...

... or maybe it's just that the timetable is so bloody full that, yet again, there's just no time for language and culture programs.

... if only imminent language death was motivation for drastic action, but no... doesn't seem that way. :-(

... at least I get to work with some deadly language workers again tomorrow!

PS. I had a pesky political thought today... there's a small stream of linguists that have/do come and go through Kalkarindji. Maybe we need to all come together at the same time here in Kalkarindji for a week to create a critical mass of Kartiya that are more interested in maintaining Gurindji traditions than replacing them. (A mini on-site Gurindji language forum... get the McNair's here and everything!) Wouldn't that be fun!

Stoopid Hendo

2009-09-11T16:21:00.002+09:30

So every schoolkid in Australia had their English literacy tested and of course NT did pretty crap - to be expected really given how many ESL kids we have (who go 'untreated' in the classroom, i.e. no ESL methodologies employed) and how thin resources get spread. Our Chief Minister Paul Henderson said something rather disturbing about it (as reported on ABC news website):

Henderson talks up NT education results

The Northern Territory Education Minister, Paul Henderson, says national testing results represent a small step forward in the performance of NT students, and shine a light on areas that need improvement.

The National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy, or NAPLAN, results show the Northern Territory has performed the worst of all Australia's jurisdictions.

But Mr Henderson, who is also the Chief Minister, says he sees encouraging signs of improvement in the Territory compared with last year's results.

He says it is not necessarily appropriate to draw a direct comparison with other states and territories.

"There have been slight improvements this year, but they have been improvements.

"To compare the performance of the Territory as a whole - with 33 per cent of our students Indigenous and 80 per cent of those students in very remote schools - with the performance of urban Sydney is somewhat anomalous."

------

Um, excuse me can we just look at that last bit again...

"To compare the performance of the Territory as a whole - with 33 per cent of our students Indigenous and 80 per cent of those students in very remote schools - with the performance of urban Sydney is somewhat anomalous."

Is he saying the NT does bad on these tests because one third of our students are Indigenous????? WTF!

A lovely post

2009-07-18T16:51:00.000+09:30

wheee! that's my joyful noise after reading Jane's lovely post...

Another video - this time in Yolŋu Matha - rather powerful

2009-05-29T12:04:00.003+09:30

Hey I came across another video chock-full of language. This time it's Yolŋu Matha and it's not a language learning video. It's a powerful message from an Arnhem Land homeland, from someone clearly and rightfully disturbed by the latest government policy that leans towards developing big communities (already often barely functional) and against homelands/outstations (often places where family groups live peacefully, happily and healthily while maintaining language and cultural traditions). It's worth a viewing. Here's the message from the mob that posted the video:

Created in response to the Northern Territory and Federal Government's continued attempts to close down Indigenous Homeland communities.

Yolngu and other Indigenous people have been living on their Homelands since before Settlement. Since missionary days they have asserted their desire to remain on their own traditional country. Most people thought this right was enshrined in the Land Rights Act (NT).

However, current and recent Government policies have been effectively coercing Yolngu and other Indigenous people off their country. These measures include rolling back basic services to Homelands, and closing schools while simultaneously linking school attendance to parental social service payments.

Ngapartji Ngapartji and online language lessons

2009-05-24T23:21:00.002+09:30

While in Alice I was lucky enough to visit the Ngapartji Ngapartji office and meet a couple of the people involved in it. Just one of the things they are doing is making nice little language lessons. This one was availalble online. The language is Pitjantjatjara. (I'm assuming!!)

Docker River Language Lesson from alex kelly on Vimeo.

Neat huh?

nga-rlindiyi na-mbarnduwa-yurr

2009-05-16T10:41:00.002+09:30

(Marra - I'm going to Mparntwe (Alice Springs))

I'm off to Alice tomorrow for another week of teaching. It'll be freezing!! Yikes.

I like Alice though. I love that you hear people talking language all the time, everywhere, unselfconsciously. Because I've worked on very endangered languages for so long, my instinct is to stick a recording device in front of their face before valuable data gets lost into the ether, but then I realise that there's no need to do that with languages that are still viable. (viable, yet still virtually ignored by wider society).

Even though I'm enjoying my work, I've been missing Ngukurr and working out bush in general more and more lately. I think I'm over the burnout I was feeling two years ago and now I'm just feeling rather displaced from knowing how communities work and remembering what's important to people living in communities. I've become another whitefella who flies in and out (so-to-speak), hoping that what I do has some impact, but really not knowing if that's the case. What's worse, is that I think I've forgotten *how* to work out bush. I'm too comfy watching Austar and playing sport twice a week and sleeping in our new king size bed and cruising around Katherine on a scooter - I've forgotten that I can actually give all this up and reap alternative benefits by spending time in communities with some of the wonderful people that live there.

I think in the mid-semester break, I might try and do a bit of a tour of the region for two weeks - catching up with students in a low-pressure environment and hopefully getting a few more people interested in doing language courses. :-)

Oh, and a functioning language centre to support my students would be a big help too.

Barunga women and a bit of Kriol on YouTube

2009-05-08T09:07:00.002+09:30

Here's a little YouTube video featuring two deadly women from Barunga. It starts off in Kriol then goes into English, thanks to MK's wonderful English. If you watch it, you'll notice them being wonderful, but also a bit tongue-in-cheek, especially that Bangûrn. She's awesome.

hehehe...

off to Batchelor

2009-04-26T13:23:00.002+09:30

Well I'm off to Batchelor for the week to deliver another workshop.

Except I'm totally unprepared for this one due to spending 2.5 days at Timber Creek and 1 day at Mataranka last week. Luckily I'm a clever chicken and will hopefully be able to think up some fun stuff and 'effective training activities' for my students to do. :-)

I have five students doing Cert 1 in Own Language Work and their languages are Mayali, Rembarrnga and Dalabon. Hope it goes well! Wish me luck...

It better go well, otherwise I'll be spewing come Thursday that I'm not in Katherine playing Netball. Actually, I'll be spewing about that regardless. I have an unhealthy passion for netball. To the point where I'm ready to singlehandedly put together an NT mens side so that I can start playing in the national competitions! heheheh....

When I'm totally over this linguist gig, I'm retiring to become a full-time tennis nerd and netball nerd. Now there's a career aspiration!

hooray for Timber Creek

2009-04-21T17:29:00.003+09:30

In the tradition of the Simpsons episode that featured the "hooray for everything" group, I'm saying "hooray for Timber Creek".

I've been here in Timber Creek for 2 days for an Indigenous Language and Culture workshop organised by the Education Department. (There's still a few of them there who still care about Indigenous Language and Culture!). The best part is that it's lots of new stuff for me. Being in Timber Creek is new for me. Being around people from places west of Katherine is new for me. And at the workshop, I've met people from Kalkarindji, Yarralin, Bulla, Pigeon Hole and Lajamanu - some places I've never been to. And there were people who speak languages that I've never really heard before or much of which was new and exciting for a language nerd like me - Jaminjung and Ngarinyman I've heard a little bit, but I've heard lots more the past two days and there was a Bilinarra speaker, Gurindji and Warlpiri speakers and then when this mob speak their creole there's a lot of language mixed in and it's really different from the creole the mob from Ngukurr speak.

All very exciting for a language nerd like me.

Hooray for Timber Creek! Ngaliwurru country. (I think!)

natha lil article

2009-03-15T11:58:00.001+09:30

Here's another little article with a good friend and fellow blogger featured.

Good one Yujini!

Wurrpparn wurrpparn

2009-02-27T19:48:00.001+09:30

Here's the Rembarrnga version of Baa Baa Black Sheep that my students made this week in class:

Wurrpparn wurrpparn
Da-noettoe garlang-na?
Woh woh woh woh gurlppurr jerrh ga-jubul
Wangginy nyarran-nawoe-gan
Wangginy ngalan-nawoe-gan
Wangginy bori ganyangh-gan ga-nura Wugularr

hehe... neat!

The direct translation:

Emu, emu,
Do you have eggs?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, three dillybags full.
One for it's father
One for it's mother
One for it's little boy who lives at Beswick

go langguj gel!

2009-02-22T22:51:00.002+09:30

check this out

news from me!

2009-02-15T08:08:00.002+09:30

Well it's been a while since I posted about me and what's been going on. And as per usual, there's always a lot going on...

I had the best, most rejuvenating, coolest week at work last week. I was lecturing first-year linguistics students at Batchelor while in neighbouring classrooms the second and third years were also deeply involved in their linguistics studies. It is just so fantastic to be around a great group of people who are all determined and passionate about their language. And such a diverse bunch - from every part of Australia, young and old, experienced and new (in terms of doing language work), fluent speakers and those trying to get their language back. But the link between them all is the passion for their own language which is really inspiring considering considering how tough it can be for Indigenous languages in this country.

So now I'm back in Katherine and procrastinating. I'm supposed to be writing a funding submission and an article for a journal. The first one is for an exciting project but unfortunately writing funding submissions is always a chore. The second job (the article) is pretty cool - I'm writing about language revitalisation at Ngukurr. I've found it really quite challenging because I haven't done anything remotely like academic writing since University which is a long time ago now! It's such a slow process when you actually have to do some research and not just say what you think. Phew.

Speaking of language revitalisation at Ngukurr - my article is not going to be like the one being delivered at an international conference that doesn't have anything good to say about the language program me and the Ngukurr language workers ran at Ngukurr school for 3 years.... but that's another story and probably one i shouldn't air on here...

The wet season is in full swing in Katherine which means the heat is off and the rain is on and the weeds are growing and so is the mould in my house. Waaaah! I think I'll just employ a full-time gardener and cleaner so that I can procrastinate with less guilt.

But all in all, life's good, work's good and I have no complaints. I saw a movie called Young@Heart last night which was wonderful. Team that up with a movie called 'Happy-go-lucky' and I'll never complain again. Those movies are good medicine.

Newsflash! Marion Scrymgour removed as NT Education Minister

2009-02-04T11:41:00.003+09:30

I just heard that Marion Scrymgour, who's been causing me and others grief with bad education policies has been removed and replaced by Paul Henderson. (see here).

Hopefully this is good news for bilingual education, for Indigenous language education and for remote education in general. Marion was obviously concerned about these things, but never seemed to do her research (or just got bad advice) and her policies of late were misguided and ill-informed. Fingers crossed for positive change.

Now I just hope that others who are in a position of power in a certain local organisation are next in line to be removed. Their actions aren't doing anyone any good at all.

Quote from 1825

2009-02-03T13:36:00.000+09:30

Here's my favourite quote for today:

"Perhaps the Aborigines think that there is an innate deficiency in the bulk of white men's skulls which prevents their attainment of the native language."

- Lancelot Threlkeld, 1825, rebutting a French anthropologist who 'confirmed' the 'innate deficiency' of Aboriginal people based on head measurements. (Quoted in Harris, John (1990) One Blood - 200 years of Aboriginal encounter with Christianity: A story of hope).

permanent writer's block?

2009-01-18T20:14:00.002+09:30

well it's a new year. I'm feeling fresh. Life isn't bad at all, but for some reason I have total writer's block. I have plenty going through my little head and am still experiencing lots of things but my life and thoughts just refuse to be manifested in the written word.

I keep wracking my brain for blogposts. I have ideas but they never materialise into posts. I'm supposed to be writing an article for Batchelor Institute's neat little journal "Ngoonjook". I have plenty of ideas for that too, but so far I've got two half-page begininings of articles. wah!

On holidays, I discovered my Year 1,2 and 3 report cards. I was blown away by how little I've changed! My teacher repeatedly commented on how I was a good writer but that it was always hard getting me to write creatively. 25+ years later, and I'm still the same. (Did you know these days teachers aren't allowed to write negative comments on report cards? what the?)

So if anyone would like to give me a push like Mrs. Coombes used to do, please suggest a few topics for me - for blogposts and/or for a journal article (which doesn't need to be too scholarly, just interesting). Anyone? :-)

A few more links

2008-12-19T11:20:00.003+09:30

It's my last day at work before my Christmas break and I feel slack. If you want something to procrastinate, here are some things to look at (thanks to Claire for these links):

AIATSIS has launched 'AUSTLANG' - a comprehensive database with every Aboriginal and TSI Language. You can find out basic stuff like where each language is, how many speakers there are, how well it's been documented and by who etc. You can also update the info if you're a clever chicken with more info to add. Have a look at AUSTLANG.

Jangari is another clever chicken who has been involved in developing Aboriginal language applications for mobile phones. Having already starred on SBS news, he's now in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Good work.

Speaking of good work, the lobbying and awareness-raising about the effects of the awful four-hours-of-English-instruction-in-NT-schools policy is beginning to pay. The Education Minister has softened a little and is giving schools a year to 'transition' into the new policy. A good start, and good to feel like my efforts in lobbying and awareness-raising might have actually made a difference!

Bilingual Education debate hots up

2008-12-02T18:53:00.002+09:30

The NT Stateline program on ABC did a segment on the bilingual education debate that is just getting hotter and hotter. The transcript is good reading.

I'm pleased to say that me and others who are supporting and raising awareness about bilingual education are being heard and maybe even making minor progress. However the Education Minister Marion Scrymgour is still being stubborn and choosing to ignore national and international research that supports bilingual education programs and choosing to deny the rights of remote Indigenous people to determine or influence their own education delivery in their own communities. Shame on her.

She doesn't seem to like me and fellow bilingual education supporters one bit. She's gone on the record saying we are misrepresenting her and off the record she calls us the 'bilingual mafia'. I prefer the term 'people that actually know something about bilingual education (even education in general?)'.

Facebook support from around the world for Bilingual Education in the NT

2008-11-27T15:45:00.002+09:30

Last Tuesday, I heard that crack Helen Hughes talking rubbish on ABC radio about Indigenous Education. I got wild and channeled my energy by making a Facebook group called 'Supporters of Bilingual Education in the Northern Territory'.

9 days later, 1000 people have joined the group! I am quite amazed. Even better is that if you flick through the people that have joined the group, they are from all over the world - Scandinavia, South East Asia, America, Europe, South America, Middle East - I don't know how they came to join the group but I'm glad they have. It is very heartening to see the support, but at the same time disappointing that the NT Govt is out of step with so many others around the world that have no trouble accepting and using Bilingual Education as a good way to deliver education.

Words for 'language' in language - help needed!

2008-11-21T09:24:00.001+09:30

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education is putting together a poster to promote the Batchelor of Arts in Language and Linguistics degree. For the poster, they would like to have as many words for ‘language’ in Australian languages as possible. If you’re feeling generous and can think of some off the top of your head, your help would be appreciated.

Here’s what I know off the top of my head…

yang (Rembarrnga)
matha (Yolngu matha)
gun-wok (Mayali/Kunwinjku)
jaru (Ngarinyman)
liiny (Jaminjung)
nanggaya (Alawa)
daway (Marra)

Any additions appreciated!

Some real media exposure in favour of Bilingual Education

2008-11-18T19:28:00.003+09:30

Last night Tom Calma gave a talk in Darwin. He clearly put his support behind communities who want bilingual education in their schools and raised questions about rights abuses if communities aren't allowed to continue bilingual education. Marion Scrymgour was there at the talk but is still standing by her awful new policy for 4-hours-of-English-instruction in all NT schools.

Today the story went to national media. Here's what The Age printed.

To any linguists reading this (and others), please do what you can to support the cause. Don't let bilingual education fall by the wayside and not say anything about it. Educate people that bilingual education is actually aimed at assisting English acquisition (among other things) and that remote Indigenous education is not just a case of more English=better outcomes. Write letters. Talk to your MPs. Especially federal. Comment on blogs and websites.

All help appreciated and needed! :-)

Crikey

2008-11-14T15:28:00.003+09:30

Crikey.com has picked up on the NT-Government-kills-off-bilingual-education issue. Check out the article by clicking here.

Note in the comments, the same old arguments keep resurfacing about 'they need English to be able to get on in the world'. From reading these comments and comments on other news forums, it seems that lots of people don't get the point of bilingual education. They seem to read 'bilingual' and think 'lack of English' or 'no English'. It is very frustrating that many people are simply overlooking the fact that 'bilingual' means two languages, and that one of the main goals of bilingual education is to improve English acquisition. Grrr... how frustrating... all you have to do is wikipedia 'bilingual education' and it's there plain as day what the point of it is and how good it can be.

workshopping

2008-11-12T13:02:00.002+09:30

When I'm not moaning about the latest government policy that will have yet another negative effect on remote Aboriginal Australia, I'm actually doing some work. This week I'm running a workshop for my Ngarinyman and Jaminjung students. These languages are endangered and spoken around the Timber Creek area. I've only got five students this week but they're all doing well and are keen. This week, I'm trying to make sure they know their alphabet well (as well as know what an alphabet is!). I'm making sure they can all read a decent amount of basic words. And I'm trying to make sure they know what nouns, verbs and affixes are. Some of the students have no trouble with this stuff but for some it's hard work. What's great is that they're all trying and they're all learning, slowly but surely.

And I'm enjoying learning a little bit more Jaminjung and Ngarinyman. Especially Jaminjung. I'd never really heard that language before this week. It's really different to any other language I've come across.

These are the nerdy things that linguists get off on - hearing new languages. woo!

Letter writing

2008-11-06T08:42:00.002+09:30

Well I finally sent off my letters to a bunch of politicians about this new English teaching policy that pretty much excludes Indigenous languages and bilingual education. It's the first time I've had a go at writing letters to pollies - don't know if it has any effect, but I'm glad I did. I also had a little letter-to-the-ed published in the Katherine Times yesterday which is good. Here are the letters I sent to the pollies - it's in English and Kriol (what better way to make a statement about Indigenous languages and bilingual education than to make your statement bilingual!).

Ps. If anyone has any tips on better ways to get such messages to pollies, pls let me know.

----------------------------------------------------

Dear so-n-so,

The Northern Territory Minister for Education and Training, Marion Scrymgour, recently issued a directive that the first four hours of education in all NT schools will be conducted in English in an attempt to improve English
literacy outcomes in remote schoools. (Media release issued 14/10/08, http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewRelease&id=4599&d=5.)

While I, like every other Territorian, wish to see dramatic improvements in English literacy levels in the bush, I am appalled by the method the Minister is employing to achieve this. It is misguided, ill-informed, rude and disrespectful. I want to highlight this issue with you in the hope that you can influence the Minister and the Northern Territory Government to reneg on this flawed decision.

Indigenous people, just like anyone, have the right to be educated in their own language if they desire. With the Minister's directive, she is taking away the basic right for Indigenous people across the Territory to speak, teach in, and learn in their own languages. Before lunch, that is. From the Yolngu to the Arrernte to the Tiwi to the Burarra to the Murrinh Patha to the Warlpiri to the Alyawarre and many more – I am deeply concerned for all Indigenous people who work in NT Schools and speak their own Indigenous language in NT Schools – those who use bilingual education to maintain their language and teach English, those who realise how fruitless it is to educate a 4-year old in a foreign language, the old men who go to school to teach their traditional dances and songs, the mums and grandparents who speak Language to their kids and grandkids in order to unravel the mysteries of Westerners and Western education, those who cry about the ongoing devastation of their language and culture and utilise their school to provide a balanced education to their own children via the myriad of Indigenous Language and Culture programs that exist in NT Schools.

I am a qualified linguist who lived in Ngukurr community for three years and have worked in language revitalisation in a number of other communities in the Katherine Region over the last six years and am a fluent speaker of an Indigenous language, Kriol, and partial speaker of a number of other Indigenous languages. I know first hand the benefit of delivering training and education in Aboriginal people's first language as I do it regularly and achieve results. Learning English and speaking an Indigenous language are not mutually exclusive. In fact, my personal experience tells me the opposite – I see how easy it is for Indigenous students to engage with education and training when I deliver it in their language, rather than a foreign language. It's a great way to teach and learn. Why is the NT Government denying Aboriginal people significant opportunities to learn and teach this way?

What does the Minister's directive mean for the Indigenous teachers working in remote schools? Will Indigenous teachers for forced to speak only English (until 12:30pm) to their own students who are their own kin in their own community school? Governments do not have the right to dictate to Indigenous people the language they must speak to their own people in their own school.

I am very concerned about the impact this policy will have for bilingual education in NT Schools. Since it's inception in the 1970s, bilingual education in NT Schools has brought an enormous amount of education, training, employment, resources, confidence and empowerment to Indigenous students and Indigenous teaching staff – is it now all over? What about the culture days run in numerous schools – Will the old men who go to schools to teach local songs and dances now have to teach in English or come back after lunch? This shows little respect. Do Aboriginal teaching assistants now have to just stand by in silence while they watch their kids struggle to understand their monolingual English-speaking teacher when some simple instructions in their own language will set off the lightbulbs required for kids to engage with their education? Will we now go back to the days when people are punished for speaking their language in schools? Will students who go on excursions to important cultural sites be forced to speak only English while on their own country (until 12:30pm)? The thought of these things happening in NT Schools makes me ashamed of the Territory and Federal Governments I voted for.

I urge you take action to redress this policy. It is morally reprehensible as it breaches the rights of minority groups to be educated in their own language and and is seriously misguided in terms of ESL education methodology. I would be happy to provide you with further information on these issues.

Ngulajuku (Warlpiri – that's all),
Bilinu, yakaŋunu dhärukmuru (Wägilak – that's all, no story now),
Bonj (Dalabon – that's all),
Jahbony (Ngalakgan – that's all),
Murru mandi (Alawa – finish now),
Guda mingi (Marra – finish now),
Jaldu na (Kriol – that's all now),
Marntaj (Gurindji – that's all),
Wiiya (Nunggubuyu – that's all),

Sincerely,

------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear so-n-so,

Marion Scrymgour, im det Minista bla Education en Treining la Northern Territory, bin jendim mesij weya im tok 'ola skul titja langa NT garra tok onli
from Ingglish raitap dinataim' blanga trai en album ola sjuden la bush
bla len Ingglish mo beda. (Yu gin luk det stori la intanet la: http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewRelease&id=4599&d=5.)

Wal mi, laik ebribodi iya la NT, wandim ola blekbala la bush komyunidi bla sabi Ingglish brabliwei bat mi brabli nogudbinji bla wijei det Minista regin im beswei bla alabat bla len Ingglish. Im rongwei en maiyul en nomo garrim eni rispek. Ai wandi dalim yu bla wanim im duwing dumaji maitbi yu gin duwum samting bal stabum det Minista from meigimbat rong.

Blekbala, seim laik munanga, garrim det 'right' blanga tjusim wijan langgus thei wandim bla alabat biginini education. Bat det mesij bla det Minista, im teikidawei det 'right' blanga blekbala ol oba dijan NT, bla tok, titj en len burrum alabat oun langgus. Bifo dina, ai min. Yolŋumob, Arrerntemob, Tiwimob, Burarramob, Murrinh-Pathamob, Alyawarremob – bigismob – ai fil sori bla ol detlot blekbala weya thei wek langa skul en sabi tok thei langgus. Detmob weya thei wek la 'bilingual' skul blanga meigim thei langgus strongwan en titjim det Ingglish gudwei. Detmob hu sabi im no yus titjing lilwanlilwan biginini burrum Ingglish wen im nomo sabi eni Ingglish. Detlot olmenolmen hu oldei gu la skul bla titjim bunggul. Detlot mami, gagu en abuji weya thei tok langgus langa bigininimob dumaji detlot biginini oldei bigis kwesjinmak la skul. Detlot pipul weya thei krai dumaji alabat langgus en kaltja guweiguwei en thei yusim alabat skul bla gibit alabat biginini tjens bla len tu wei garrim olkainaba langgus en kaltja lesin.

Mi linggwis en ai bin jidan la Ropa bla thri yiya en ai bin wek langa najalot komyunidi la Katherrain eriya bla langgus bla siks yiya en mi sabi tok Kriol en lilbit bla najalot blekbala langgus du. Ai sabi brabliwei det im gudwan wen yu titjim blekbala garrim alabat oun langgus dumaji ai oldei duwum lagijat na en im rait. Yu gin isi len Ingglish en tok langgus seimteim. Trubala, garrim main oun ai ai bin luk. Ai bin luk im isi bla blekbala bla len wen det titja im tok burrum alabat oun langgus en nomo det langgus burrum natha kantri. Im brabli gudwei bla titj en bla len. Wotfo det NT Gabmen kaan gibit blekbala tjens bla len lagijat?

Wanim det mesij from det Minista min blanga ola blekbala tijta langa bush skul? Maitbi im min blekbala tijtamob oni lau bla tok burrum Ingglish wen alabat tok la alabat oun femlimob la alabat oun skul. Gabmen mob nomo garrim eni 'right' bla dalim najamob blekbala wijan langgus thei lau bla tok la alabat oun pipul la alabat oun skul.

Mi brabli nogudbinji dumaji maitbi dijan garra binijimap ola bailingwul skul la NT o wanim? Ola treining, ejukeishin, bukmob, 'pride' en pawa diskain titjing bin gibit blekbala sjuden en titja. Im 'all for nothing' maitbi. Wanim bla ola kaltja dei yu faindim la lorra skul? Detlot olmen weya thei gu la skul bla bunggul – alabat garra tok burrum Ingglish o kambek aftanuntaim na maitbi. Nomo garrim eni rispek tharran jeya. Ola assistant titja mob – wanim alabat garra du na? Jidan kwait wen thei luk alabat biginini basbreins dumaji alabat titja tok oni from Ingglish. Alabat perensmob sabi if thei ekspleinimbat la biginini from langgus alabat garra sabi en len gudwei. Maitbi im garra bi seim laik oldeis wen munanga bin panishim blekbala ebritaim thei bin tok langgus la skul. Maitbi wen bigininimob gu la bush garrim skulmob bla luk kantri, alabat garra tok oni from Ingglish. Wen mi jinggibat im garra hepin lagijat, mi gulijap baku.

Ai askim yu bla duwum samting bla tjeinjim det Minista main. Im nogudbala ting en im teikidawei pawa from detlot pipul weya thei nomo garrim maj pawa bat thei wandim alabat langgus la alabat skul. Nathawei, im nogudwei bla titjim biginini Ingglish wen thei sabi tok oni alabat oun langgus. Bunju yu wandim, ai gin gibit yu lorra infameishin bla lenim yu bla diskain.

Ngulajuku (Warlpiri – jaldu na),
Bilinu, yakaŋunu dhärukmuru (Wägilak – Jaldu, no stori na),
Bonj (Dalabon – jaldu),
Jahbony (Ngalakgan – jaldu),
Murru mandi (Alawa – najing na),
Guda mingi (Marra – najing na),
Sincerely (Ingglish – jaldu na),
Marntaj (Gurindji – jaldu),
Wiiya (Nunggubuyu – jaldu),
Jaldu na,

Friends of Bilingual Learning

2008-11-04T16:21:00.003+09:30

Earlier this eyar, an informal network sprung up in the Top End called 'Friends of Bilingual Learning'. This was thanks people who work for the excellent ARDS (Aboriginal Resource Development Services). Also related is Tim Trudgen's blog, found here. I like that the 'Friends of Bilingual Learning' group is about bilingual learning, not just bilingual education. In all my years at Ngukurr, I used the local lingua franca, Kriol, as much as possible while delivering on-the-job training to the language mob there. What better way to describe what orthography or transcription means than to give a Kriol definition!

So with the NT Govt's recent implicit attack on Bilingual Education, budding networks like Friends of Bilingual Learning have become rather relevant and important. They've started a Google group which I encourage anyone in the NT (or elsewhere) who is an active supporter of Bilingual education to join. If you join the group, you'll find a bunch of informative documents and letters to Marion Scrymgour that have sprung up as a result of her recent bright idea of having only English as the medium of instruction for the first four hours every day in all NT School. Check out Friends of Bilingual Learning on Google groups here.

the only welshman in the village

2008-11-02T11:36:00.002+09:30

My friend Renae sent me this link. Classic!

Thanks Renae.

What is bilingual education?

2008-10-29T14:14:00.002+09:30

This thing that came from the Education Minister about having the first four hours of schooling delivered in English has got me really wound up. (Apologies to those who don't want to hear me go on about political stuff again, but I'm seriously on the bandwagon... I'll chill out one day). One thing that winds me up is that when most people hear the new policy they go 'oh great, of course that will improve English outcomes... why have we been stuffing around with Bilingual education'? Too many people I've spoken to over the past few days just haven't understood what the point of Bilingual education is. I've taken it for granted that people know what it is and what it's for. It's not about teaching Indigenous language at the expense of English.

A really nice summary of Bilingual Education is found on good old Wikipedia. If you or anyone you know doesn't quite know what Bilingual Education education is about, point them here. Just that simple explanation makes Marion Scrymgour's plan for improving litearcy outcomes look pedagogically flawed and misguided (not to mention just plain mean to those communities who have invested in their bilingual programs).

Bad and ridiculous news from the NT Minister for Education

2008-10-28T11:34:00.003+09:30

Anyone involved in NT Education or Aboriginal languages has probably heard this already, but a couple of weeks ago the NT Minister for Education released this, which says that the first four hours of education in all NT Schools will be conducted in English.

Obviously this is bad news for any communities who want to maintain or revitalise their own Indigenous language in their own school (before lunch, that is). It is particularly appalling for all those involved in bilingual education - programs that help students engage with their education, including English, by delivering it in their first language (while they are young and haven't learned much English yet). The bilingual programs actually produce better-than-average results in terms of English literacy, especially when they're done well. So does the Minister invest in them further? No. It looks she wants to scrap the whole thing. How ridiculous to think that non-English speakers will learn English purely by immersion. If that was true, anyone who watches Home and Away every day should be fluent English speakers, but it's just not that easy. It helps greatly if someone explains things to you in your own language - especially when you're still learning... especially when you're, like, five.

What a joke.

I'm especially appalled because I firmly believe (as does the United Nations) that Indigenous people, just like anyone, have the right to be educated in their own language, if they choose. How dare the Minister take away this basic right and dictate that only English be spoken for the first four hours of delivery in ALL NT schools.

So yes, I'm appalled and disgusted. I'm drafting a letter to the Minister as are many others. I'll post more about it soon.

Indigenous TV back on line ... nearly

2008-10-15T09:23:00.003+09:30

When they launched NITV (National Indigenous Television) a lot of people were happy but a loud minority were upset because it coincided with the end of years of ICTV (Indigenous Community Television) which did heaps of remote broadcasting, provided training and employment for community mob and provided heaps of broadcasting in Indigenous Languages. Here's a bit of discussion from last year about ICTV's closure.

So now we have NITV which is alright (the highlight is seeing familiar faces pop up regularly... especially good when it's 80s footage of ppl very close to you... hehehe), but NITV is very low on Indigenous language content, heavy on urban-based stuff and does little for remote Aboriginal Australia especially in terms of training and employment.

The good news is I was sent an email telling me that ICTV is online... or at least the radio part. Fingers crossed and there'll be lots of deadly language video content online soon.

Unnecessary death - 7:30 report

2008-10-10T15:37:00.002+09:30

Check out this story from last night's 7:30 report. (Thanks Maia for the link). It's about a young guy from Bulman who shot himself while being hunted down by police. I know of most of the people quoted in the report. Reading it made me very sad and angry. Awful stuff like this happens far too much around here. I only heard a bit about this story when it happened so I'm glad it's come to light a little. I really hope we learn to do things better one day. Sorry to the family.

more languages!

2008-09-17T07:25:00.003+09:30

I'm starting to get ready for next week's week of teaching which involves students from Timber Creek area who speak Ngarinyman and Jaminjung - two languages I know very little about! (Which is fine - I have a tutor and as long as I know the alphabet of those languages, I can put together a workshop).

Yesterday when my tutor was telling me a bit about Ngarinyman I freaked out. It's all Pama-Nyungan and weird. Give me pronominal prefixes anyday. heheheheheh.

i'm a bit excited

2008-07-30T13:12:00.002+09:30

I'm a bit excited. I have a new job which I'm enjoying quite a bit. It's only my fourth week, but all signs are good. When I started, I had to go to Alice Springs where I had a week of teaching the basics of phonology to 12 Indigenous students from all over Qld and NSW. It was daunting, challenging, exciting, exhausting and best of all - it went well. Since then, I've been settling into my new office in Katherine and preparing for a semester of teaching. I'll be running weeklong workshops about every second week to different groups, but the training I'll be delivering is not too different from what I used to do at Ngukurr - a lot of Indigenous Language Literacy training. Which I enjoy a lot.

And I'm excited for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I'm excited because I get to deliver workshops at Ngukurr with all the language mob I used to work with there. It will be so nice going back and it will be so nice to work with that mob while I'm all fresh-faced and energised.

Secondly, I'm excited because I also get to work with different mobs and different languages. Next week I have a week in Beswick where I'll be working with students who speak Rembarrnga, Dalabon and Mayali. Rembarrnga I'm comfortable with, but I know very little Mayali and even less Dalabon. What fun! The students will be learning sounds and spelling and basic teaching and learning strategies. I'll have them whipped up into the deadliest language workers in no time. And I'm sure they'll whip me into shape too. I fear I've been in town too long and need to be reminded what life is like for people living in communities.

A conference, language policy and Aboriginal languages in Federal Parliament

2008-07-10T23:50:00.001+09:30

The other day, I was priveleged in attending a TESOL symposium about 'Keeping Language Diversity Alive'. One of the speakers, Joseph Lo Bianco was excellent and discussed Language Policy. He gave a handout at one of his sessions that I'm going to type out in full here, because it was a real eye-opener. It's from the Official Hansard of the Federal Parliament from a debate that happened on 10/12/98. Here's how it went:

Mr SNOWDON: My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of the decision by the Northern Territory government to phase out bilingual education in Aboriginal schools? Is the Prime Minister also aware that his government funds bilingual education programs in Papua New Guinea and Vietnam? Prime Minister, given that article 26(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children, will you take a direct approach to the Northern Territory government, asking them to ensure that bilingual education continues to be available in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory?
Dr KEMP: I find it incredible that a question about literacy amongst indigenous Australian should be raised by the Labor Party.
Opposition membes interjecting -
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Fowler, the member for Kingsford-Smith and the member for the Northern Territory will exercise a great deal more restraint or I will be forced to warn them.
Mr SNOWDON: Mr Speaker, on a point of relevance: bilingual programs are about cultural maintenance as well as literacy. That is something this minister does not appreciate. He knows nothing about Aboriginal education or employment.
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Northern Territory has been warned.
Mr Adams interjecting
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Lyons will exercise some restraint as well. The minister has been on his feet for 11 seconds. I will not tolerate this level of interjection and noise. Let that be understood by those on both sides of the House. The minister has the call.
Dr KEMP: As I said in my first 11 seconds, I find it incredible that the Labor Party would raise a question concerning literacy amongst indigenous young people. After their 13 years in office, we have now discovered that 70 per cent of indigenous students are below the national standard.
Mr LEE: Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. You have admonished members of the House not to use scorn and ridicule and that is the very thing which this minister is doing. When are you going to take some action about it?
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Dobell will resume his seat. I have also been admonished by the House for commenting, but allow me to say to the member for Dobell that if I were to run a scorn and derision meter on comments made by the members for Batman or Hotham, or members on the government front bench, it would be running neck and neck.
Mr MARTIN FERGUSON: Why don't you name them?
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Batman makes a quite inappropriate interjection. The minister has the call.
Dr KEMP: It is the coalition government which has been forced to address a problem which was totally ignored and neglected for 13 years. This question shows the blindness of the Labor Party when it comes to matters of educational equity.
Mr SNOWDON: Mr Speaker, on a point of relevance: this question related particularly to the issue of bilingual education. The minister has not even mentioned those words in his reply so far. It is also about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mr SPEAKER: The member for the Northern Territory will resume his seat. The minister has the call. The minister has been perfectly relevant to the question asked and he has the call.
Dr KEMP: I was referring to the blindness of the Labor Party when it comes to fundamental issues of educational equity. The question asked about a Northern Territory bilingual program concerned with literacy education amongst young Northern Territorians. It has been up to this government to finally address the issue, not only amongst all young Australians, but amongst indigenous young Australians.
Dr THEOPHANOUS: Mr Speaker, on a point of relevance: there is a distinction between literacy and bilingual education, which has to do with education in Aboriginal languages. That is the issue. The issue is not the literacy issue; it has to do with-
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Calwell will resume his seat.
Dr THEOPHANOUS: Why don't you permit me-
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Calwell will resume his seat.
Mr SECKER: Oh!
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Barker will exercise some restraint. The minister has the call.
Dr KEMP: As the members of the Labor Party well know, one of the major reasons for these bilingual programs concerns the literacy skills of young people, and I am addressing that aspect of the question. Last week, I announced that the government would be putting in place a national literacy program for indigenous Australians. That program will be an effective program because, for the first time, we will have a program focused on outcomes, not rhetoric, not feel-good feelings in the stomach which we have had from the rhetoric-
Mr SPEAKER: The minister will resume his seat.
Dr KEMP: of the previous government for the last 13 years-
Mr SPEAKER: The minister will resume his seat. I will not tolerate ministers overriding the chair. I call the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr BEAZLEY: Mr Speaker, I take a point of order on relevance. It is the case that bilingual education is fundamental to the establishment of literacy. There is not a single commentator on literacy, as far as the Aboriginal community is concerned, that does not recognise that. Therefore, the question was directed not to the intentions of this government, but to the intentions of the government in relation to the action by the Northern Territory government, which is a direct attack on literacy in the Aboriginal community. What is he going to do about it?
Mr SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.
Dr KEMP: I didn't hear you, Mr Speaker, and I apologise for appearing to ignore you.
Mr SPEAKER: The minister will come to the question and deal with the question of bilingual education.
Dr KEMP: I announced last week that the government would be working with the states and territories, including the Northern Territory, to put in place for the first time a program for the education of indigenous young people, which will be focused on the actual outcomes of those programs. This government has already lifted spending on indigenous education. it is a government which is now putting more resources into outcomes focused programs.
Mr SNOWDON: Mr Speaker, I take a point of order on relevance. The question was whether the Prime Minister would approach the Northern Territory government about what they are going to do about bilingual education. The minster has not answered that question.
Mr SPEAKER: The member for the Northern Territory will resume his seat.
Mr Snowdon interjecting
Mr SPEAKER: I have no choice. The member for the Northern Territory is actually asking me to discharge him from the service of the House under standing order 304A - and I ask all members of the House to exercise, in this last question time, a little more restraint.
The honourable member for the Northern Territory thereupon withdrew from the chamber.
Mr MELHAM: I take a point of order, Mr Speaker. I draw your attention to standing order 99, 'Proceedings on question of order', which states: "Upon a question of order being raised, the Member called to order shall resume his or her seat, and after the question of order has been stated to the Speaker by the Member rising to the question of order, the Speaker shall give a ruling thereon." Mr Speaker, it is implicit in the standing orders that the member raising the point of order is entitled, as of right, to state their point of order before it is ruled on by you. Mr Speaker, I submit that you have overstated the position when you suspend him under the standing order for raising the point of order, when you have not given him his time to state the question.
Mr SPEAKER: I have a great deal of respect for the member for Banks.
Government members: Oh!
Mr SPEAKER: Order, members on my right! The member for Banks, given his logistical position in the chamber, may not have been aware of the fact that the member for the Northern Territory had stated his point of order and was, in fact, discharged from the service of the House for subsequent interjections.
Mr MELHAM: On a further point of order, Mr Speaker - in discharging him, you did not rule on his point of order in relation to relevance, and I ask you to do so.
Mr SPEAKER: I had, in fact, determined that the minister was being relevant, and it could scarcely be claimed, when he was dealing with education, particularly with literacy in the Northern Territory, that he was irrelevant to the question.
Dr KEMP: The government has also introduced, for the first time, intensive English as a second language courses for young indigenous students who do not have English as their first language. This is proving to be an exceptionally effective way of addressing the literacy needs of young people who are native speakers of a vernacular language. The government is very proud of the fact that it has faced up to these fundamental issues of educational equity in the Northern Territory and throughout Australia and we will continue to work with the Northern Territory government to achieve better outcomes.
Mr SPEAKER: The minister will resume his seat. I call the member for Denison on a point of order.
Government members: He has finished.
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Denison is still entitled to his point of order.
Mr KERR: Thank you, Mr Speaker. My point of order is again on relevance, because the question was about whether education is to be conducted in a single language or in two languages, and the human rights that are entailed. He has avoided it.
Mr SPEAKER: The member for Denison will resume his seat. The minster had, in fact, dealt with the relationship he was having with the Northern Territory government and was, in that sense, fully relevant.

-----------------------------------

Goodness me. To me, there is so much wrong with that. Firstly, the dismissal of Human Rights and then the lack of knowledge about bilingual education. During the session, Joseph Lo Bianco asked the audience, 'After reading that, how do you rate the chances of language diversity surviving in Australia: high, medium, low or no chance'. The reply was a resounding 'no chance'.

And the killer punchline. The above extract is actually the ONLY time Aboriginal languages have been discussed in the Federal Parliament in the last twenty years.

Goodness me. Time for some action and policy methinks!

Showing people that the message isn't quite getting through

2008-07-01T10:29:00.002+09:30

The other day an interesting message came through the Australian Linguistic Society email server. It's from Gavan Breen and talks about the problem of miscommunication between Aboriginal people who have English as a second language and English speakers, especially public servants. It's a huge problem that I'm well aware of and Gavan is talking about getting the issue out there or doing some research. Here's a copy of Gavan's post:

I and some others here at the Institute for Aboriginal Development think there is a need for a study to be done of how well Aboriginal English speakers, especially those who speak it as a second or later language, understand the English of whitefellows, especially public servants and politicians and the like. The latest inspiration for this is a news item: Report finds NT Aboriginal group doesn't understand legal terms

However, there was an earlier discussion of this sort of thing, related to the inability of public servants to explain aspects of the "intervention" to people in Aboriginal communities.

An obvious aspect of the problem is the use of words that people don't know; 'equity' is one that was mentioned as an example a couple of times in the recent exchange of emails, and it's one that I have only a vague understanding of myself.

A less obvious aspect, and so one that is not so easy for government officials and other offenders to appreciate, is, in my opinion at least, the fact that Aboriginal English speakers are not familiar with the extended meanings of words and the idioms that educated native speakers use. For example, 'We have to decide where X (a community) is going'; meaning, of course, how it is to develop, not where it being moved to.

I heard a story recently about a small group of teenage students who had been chosen to attend something (educational, I forget what) and were being interviewed by a reporter (in the presence, fortunately, of their teacher). One was asked 'What do you hope to get out of this?' and she didn't answer; obviously confused, she had a whispered conversation with the teacher that solved the problem. The problem was, she was looking forward to the thing, she wanted to do it, she didn't want to get out of it.

Other examples of usages that are perfectly familiar to us are the various figurative uses of 'heart' in English, the use of 'today' and 'tomorrow' to mean 'nowadays' and 'some time in the future', and the specification of location relative to the body (on the left, right, front, back) rather than to the world (north, south, east, west). There are probably hundreds of expressions that we use that teachers in Aboriginal schools would take for granted and never think of teaching.

I suggest that an institution that wants to look into this topic find a student who would be interested and amass enough data to convince the decision makers that there is a need for education, both of Aboriginal people and of those who deal with them, to improve the quality of communication.

Apparently, a few of us agreed with Gavan and sent him replies. Here's my pocket of shrappie:

I was very interested to read the bit from Gavan Breen about miscommunication between black and white, especially here in the NT with the Intervention. I see this sort of basic miscommunication happening everyday here in Katherine and also when I was living in Ngukurr in Southern Arnhem Land.

I've done a little bit of Kriol interpreting and I listen to the language of public servants and shake my head at the lack of consideration that is given to their choice of words (the problem is compounded because many public servants are given directives about the approved wording they are supposed to use). I remember last year at Ngukurr an Intervention meeting involving a public servant talking about the 'cessation' of CDEP. I'm guessing the word 'cessation' was chosen carefully as approved wording but unfortunately just wasn't understood by the vast majority of the Kriol speaking audience. Another example of incomprehensible approved wording from that meeting was 'transitioning', ie. 'transitioning' people from CDEP employment to Centrelink benefits. It was appalling. This meeting was essentially the government telling the community that 180 jobs will soon be gone and everyone will then have to go back on Centrelink payments but the 'approved wording' meant that people barely realised this was what they were being told.

Then there are more subtle examples. Interpreting at Centrelink last week, I heard some Centrelink staff constantly using unnecessarily difficult words when dealing with Kriol speaking ESL-customers. Examples are words like 'verify' and 'confirm' (I suggested 'make sure'), 'currently' and 'at present' (I suggested 'at the moment' or 'right now') and 'entitled to' (I suggested 'can get'). By merely speaking in plainer English, communication difficulties can be reduced significantly. And if public servants don't have time to think about the English they use, they can just get an interpreter, but this doesn't happen very much either!

Sadly, it seems that Aboriginal people with English as a Second Language are used to not understanding public servants properly. It's the norm and to a certain degree 'just the way it is'. Some of us are here trying to make a difference and the more exposure the issue can get, the better. Importantly, the education needs to be both ways. In my opinion, not only do whitepeople/public servants need to realise the extent of communication breakdown but Aboriginal people who are ESL also need to be educated or shown that the way things are now aren't necessarily the way things have to or should be.

How do we give this issue exposure? A research project would be great, but I don't think we need to wait until research is done before we can plainly show that miscommunication is occurring.

One idea would be some media activity, especially from someone who is media-savvy. How about regular press releases which give an obvious example of miscommunication, similar to the examples Gavan's already given and then suggestions for better ways to communicate. Does anyone have any other suggestions on how we get this issue out there? I'd be happy to give the cause a bit of time if there is support and ideas out there.

-----------------

A big issue no? Anyone have any bright ideas about what we can do inform the public (black and white)?

Floating around

2008-06-25T09:31:00.001+09:30

Since finishing from the language centre I've managed to do a few things apart from sitting on the couch (which is where I am now as I write this... I can't help it, Wimbledon's on). I've been floating around doing a few jobs here n there but i've also been taking it easy and slowly figuring out which way to go next.

I did some casual work at an art gallery in Katherine - just menial tasks but it was really enjoyable. The art is pretty and I got to hang out with two Warlpiri speakers who taught me a few things. The downside - looking at the horrible spelling of language words all over the gallery. How do you convince ordinary ppl that it's important to get these things right? I tried the 'there are lots of people that can read and write Warlpiri' but it seems that the demands of getting through daily workloads wins over making time to consider Indigenous language spelling conventions. Buhu.

I also got myself an ABN (a bit exciting) and lots of information books from the tax office (not so exciting). This allowed me to do a bit of independent work with schools - which has mainly been a bit of tutoring at the high school, working with ESL kids to produce a Kriol nyusleta. Follow the link from the Katherine High School website.

Then I had a week's worth of tutoring at Batchelor, tutoring a group of Diploma of Interpreting students. It was my first time at Batchelor and it was great to visit there. It was so nice to walk into the library there and find that the Aboriginal languages section is one of the biggest in the library! In most libraries it's about a shelf worth. The campus is nice, the accommodation was great and the students were ace. They were a small group but representing a range of communities (Willowra, Elcho, Daly River, Ngukurr, Bulman, Katherine) and languages (Kriol, Warlpiri, Djambarrpuyŋu and Walmajarri). They are doing well and have lots to say and are keen to get through the course. They were a pleasure to teach (and learn from).

Other things I've been doing include:
- a fair bit of gardening. I'm aiming for the 'immaculate' look... a fair way to go yet!
- my regular friday night stint on Katherine Community Radio
- playing tennis and squash (elimination final in squash tonight!)
- setting up a neat little home office
- slowly processing hundreds of registration forms for the local AFL competition
- a job application and interview for 'Indigenous Academic Support Lecturer' at Charles Darwin University but based in Katherine. (not sure if I want it - still keen for language work)
- watching an awful lot of tennis on austar. and keeping up with Australia's Next Top Model. :-)
- oh, and making a budget for myself because my income has dropped considerably!

So what to do next?

The more I think about the more it makes sense for me to seriously look into doing a PhD on one of the languages I've worked on at Ngukurr. I'm in a perfect position to do so. What holds me back is that I'm not terribly academically-inclined and prefer doing practical stuff. But the thought of having 3-4 years of really getting my teeth into a language like Marra is something really special and the clock is ticking for a language like Marra too. If I can make sure the PhD has strong practical components I'd be happy. But how do I make this happen? Do I just start humbugging lecturers about it?? Any advice appreciated.

Apart from that, there could be some work on the cards that I'd enjoy. Firstly, maybe a bit of work on a language program in a school not too far out of Katherine. Secondly, some more work with Batchelor students around the Katherine region for people doing language courses where they learn basic literacy in their own language. That would be fun. I love teaching people how to read and write their own language.

So that all from me. I'm going to go make a coffee and process some AFL forms. :-)

Ngurrju

2008-06-11T07:58:00.002+09:30

Now that I'm in Katherine, I'm around different languages. I've started to learn a little bit of Warlpiri and couple of words of Gurindji. With Warlpiri I've gone back to my learning style I used when I was a kakabum learning Icelandic. I carry around a bit of paper and each day my job is get one English sentence translated into Warlpiri. Forget analysing data and systematic approaches, I'm just learning functional words and sentences. (Well, it's more that I don't have any references that I can look at to analyse my data with!). So last week I learned Nyapara ngaju-nyangu coffee-yiji? (Where's my coffee?). And one of yesterday's sentences was Ngaju karna yani ngurra-kurra (I'm going home). Again, these are all unchecked and just done the best way I could on the spot so don't growl me if I've got something wrong.

Although yesterday I cheated and was treated to an excellent 1.5 hour practice of a Warlpiri language training session that will be delivered to local aged care workers here in Katherine. So with a bit of hardcore rote learning, I should be able to say "Mum, that lady can speak language!" in no time (Ngati, wangkami mayi ka jaru yinyaju karnta!)

Now what do i do?

2008-06-09T20:47:00.002+09:30

Put your thinking caps on... I need help.

I'm an experienced linguist with lots of skills to offer but no job (my employment status is by choice because I'd almost worked myself into the ground). I want to stay in Katherine but I don't know what to do next. Where should I invest my time and energy? Career guidance needed... all suggestions considered! :-)

mela ola munanga linggwismob

2008-05-27T11:18:00.004+09:30

Over at Transient Languages and Cultures, there was a bit of discussion in the comments about doing language work in communities. Jane Simpson gave this excellent summation that I thought I'd share (thanks Jane):

"It's a balancing act. Scientific researchers are nosy parkers - sometimes that can be good and cause good things to happen with documentation that would not otherwise have happened. Sometimes it can be bad and reduce the quality of the material that might otherwise have been collected.

Community researchers almost always have a much better understanding of attitudes and relationships and uses of language, as well as of what their friends and family are hoping for from language work. They may have native speaker intuitions about languages. And it is they who will be working with their communities to keep talking the languages.

A damaging situation that can arise is when an outsider linguist comes to be seen as the main source of knowledge about the language. That can cause a loss of confidence among community people, and can reduce their ability to maintain their language. It can lead to resentment, and to the rejection of outsider linguists, which then deprives the community of the good things linguists could do in partnership with them. A Lose-Lose situation.

The ideal situation is when community researchers and scientifically-trained linguists can work together, each learning from the other, and each respecting the other's skills."

Nonsense

2008-05-14T13:01:00.002+09:30

Today one of my staff came into my office and asked a question that made me laugh. It was funny because the question on the surface makes no sense, but to us two, and a handful of others, it makes perfect sense. Can you figure out what it means?

Q: "Wägilak and Rembarrnga... I mean Ritharrŋu... are blue?"
A: "Yes."

Tee hee.

One-stop shop

2008-04-17T07:43:00.002+09:30

I hate the phrase 'one-stop shop'. I don't know why but it makes me want to stab my eardrums and eyeballs with sharp scissors. It's at the top of a list of political/commerce cliches that also features 'touch base' and 'flick me an email'.

Oh well, I better get ready for work. I have some 'capacity building' to do.

My old lecturer on Compass

2008-04-11T12:41:00.002+09:30

Hey, when I was at Uni I had the acest lecturer who had been learning from Yanyuwa people at Borroloola for a couple of decades. Borroloola and Yanyuwa country are just down the track from Ngukurr. My old lecturer's name is John Bradley and he's being featured on Compass this sunday night (ABC at 9:25pm). Should be worth watching.

Facebook

2008-04-01T23:09:00.002+09:30

Poor neglected blog. I blame Facebook. This blog used to be a good way for ppl I know to find out what I'm doing. Now facebook has taken that role and my blog is sadly neglected.

That and I'm not being much of a linguist these days. How exciting can it be blogging about reporting to funding bodies or replying to emails.

But I'm still here. :-)

good job

2008-02-13T11:25:00.000+09:30

Good job to Kevin Rudd for saying sorry. I thought it was a great speech - decisive, clear, honest, to the point and all very reasonable. In the end, it seemed like he was stating the obvious and that apologising was the obvious thing to do. It made me wonder what all the fuss was about with the last government being so stubborn. Seems straightforward to me. Something bad happens, saying sorry can help make it better. Easy. (And I reckon it worked too).

Linguistic notes: Did Kevin Rudd say Yabarrah instead of Yarrabah?? When Brendan Nelson talked about 'involuntary sacrifices', is there such a thing? Is a sacrifice something that can only be made under your own volition?

bunyu

2008-01-22T15:09:00.000+09:30

I'm still here and still in Katherine being bossy. Thesedays I find myself surrounded by things such as funding applications, budgets, meetings, emails, reports etc. etc.

I'm enjoying the change althought it's a lot of work. And I miss the Ngukurr mob and miss being a linguist. But I can't complain because I was really starting to burn out after spending most of the past three years working hard in a remote community. And I'll be going back there before I know it anyway.

So hello to anyone still reading this.

Today I remembered this classic tidbit I read in the Guardian:

Talking about gaffs with interpreters and translators... when Bob Hawke was PM and addressing some important crowd in Japan he used the term 'playing funny buggers'. Apparently this caused a bit of a dilemma with the interpreters who ultimately decided to translate the term 'funny buggers' as 'laughing homosexuals'. hehe.

it's alive!

2007-11-10T15:55:00.000+09:30

Yes I'm still alive. Hi all. The last couple of months have been pretty huge... no chance of letting you in on all the goings on but here's a summary:

- Was starting to really hit the wall at Ngukurr and feeling burned out. Felt the need to think seriously about medium to long-term plans
- In the middle of that was a mammoth trip to the Indigenous languages Conference in Adelaide. Three of the guys I work with at Ngukurr came along. It was exhausting but great. We did a presentation that went very well (including a few tears and a choked up presenter... hmmm... that would be me!)
- Then i turned 30!!
- then i had a month off while my mami SN helped out with things at the Ngukurr Language Centre. Thanks mami. (You can read some of her stories on 'Finding A Voice' - click the link to the right)
- I went to Dublin to visit my sister for two weeks. Hi sis!
- Then came back to Katherine to find a tricky situation at work whereby I felt obligated to temporarily take on the Coordinator position at the Katherine Language Centre. And I'm still here! It's a huge job that I only started a week ago and I'm trying very hard not to get too overwhelmed and wrought with anxiety.
- But things are still plugging along at Ngukurr. We have a contigency plan in place and I'm off there tomorrow for a couple of days.

So wish me luck with all these goings on.

And we're advertising for the Coordinator position at the Katherine Language Centre. If anyone's interested (or if anyone's interested in doing some work at Ngukurr too), send me an email: munanga at bigpond dot com

Mah, Jaldu na.

djatam!

2007-09-07T16:26:00.000+09:30

So the other day, I was dropping all the language mob home after we'd been at Ngukurr School teaching language for the afternoon, when 5 men in the back of the troopy, our Ritharrŋu and Wägilak teachers, very quickly raised their feet off the floor saying djatam! djatam!

And this is why:

the Intervention part 2

2007-09-01T12:51:00.000+09:30

This week was a rough week, with another community meeting held by public servants from the Intervention. This time it was to tell the community about the changes to the CDEP program.

CDEP is an employment program subsidised by the Government. It is similar to work for the dole, but slightly different in that the wage is a little higher, it isn't compulsory, it is easy for employees to receive top-up wages or do work extra work and you actually have a supervisor and manager and can build training and employment pathways into your job. CDEP has been working really well here for the past year or more providing employment to over 120 people. More than just provide employment, it helps Ngukurr provide services that we wouldn't otherwise be able to fund. The areas that rely heavily on support from CDEP employment are: creche, art centre, language centre, aged care, mechanic's workshop, builder's workshop, garbage collection, swimming pool/sport'n'rec/after school care, ranger program and more.

And so part of the Intervention plan is the scrapping of CDEP. We knew this was happening, but on Wednesday a meeting was held to tell us more. The meeting was led by two public servants from 'down south' as part of the Intervention and another who is from the Katherine Region. The first woman, Philippa Hibbert, was from DEWR in Bendigo and told us about CDEP finishing and the three steps of what would happen from there.

Part way through her speech, she was interrupted by the council's CEO because the language she was using incomprehensible to - I would guess - all of the 100 or so Aboriginal people at the meeting. She was using terms such as 'the cessation of CDEP' and 'transitioning into income support'. Did she really believe people would understand her?

And so the CEO asked me if I would interpret for her and the crowd. So, I did and I think it helped but I wasn't happy that I had to do it for free when it's actually a very difficult job requiring a lot of knowledge and skill and should be properly organised and paid for, and done by someone who is properly qualified. But for the sake of facilitating proper communication, I gave it a go.

Anyway, she talked about moving off CDEP, about looking at the current activities funded by CDEP and then attempting to move funding into to the relevant department so they can turn CDEP positions into real jobs. For those who don't move into real jobs, the only option is a STEP employment program or simply moving onto Centrelink.

Then the Centrelink rep from the Gold Coast talked about Centrelink and I interpreted for her too. Centrelink will also change as there will be no longer be exemptions for people living in remote communities with little employment opportunities - everyone who is able to work will now have to look for work and/or work for their dole.

The mood from this meeting was very different from the first Intervention meeting. This mob felt like there was nothing they could say. The decisions had been made. Nobody saw any point in arguing or complaining because they felt it would be of no consequence. It was depressing and demoralising to hear that all CDEP jobs would be in jeopardy and that it is likely most people will have to go over to Centrelink.

For anyone who's been a Centrelink client, you would know how demoralising it can be dealing with them. Before the meeting I said to the DEWR woman, how can you possibly believe that it is a good thing to move people from CDEP into the Welfare System. Surely it's a backward step. She didn't have anything to say to that except feebly reiterating the government lines about creating real jobs.

To me, it seemed like this meeting really cracked people here. There was little fight, like there was at the first Intervention meeting. The deals have been done. Nobody here knows why this is being done to them. CDEP works well here and it's being taken away, even though many people have worked very hard for years. Had some positive options been presented, then great - good riddance CDEP - but the impression given was that the only option is Centrelink. Well, I think it just broke people's spirits.

After the community meeting, I attended a closed meeting with the local council - staff and council members. It was a good chance to get more detail on the changes. One thing I was interested in was the STEP program - one of the training/employment programs the government is talking up in the face of the 'cessation' of CDEP. I was thinking, okay, what's this STEP program, I've got to try and be positive and see what Language Centre can make of this situation. After a few questions, I was still trying to work out how to get a STEP program at language centre, until the Intervention people reluctantly admitted that there wasn't actually anyone in the Katherine Region delivering this program - it is still out to tender. Everyone's jaw dropped and the public servants were visibly embarrassed.

That afternoon and the next morning, everyone I work with here was asking me 'what's going to happen', 'what will happen to our jobs', 'where will we get money'. The concerns run deep and no one is happy with the government. We will wait and see, but the scepticism that anything good will come out of this is growing and growing.

A final point: at the closed meeting, I said that the end of CDEP is more than just an economic and employment concern, that socially it will have a massive impact. I spoke of how we see stories on the news of a factory closing in Geelong and they tell us of the significance of 500 jobs going in a city of 100 000. Whereas here we have a community of just over 1,000 finding out that 120 jobs - the bulk of the community's total employment - is now in jeopardy. Socially, the impact of that is huge.

Nobody will ever convince me that the government knows what they are doing and that this Intervention is a good thing.

Mal Brough's 1st 'good work' sticker

2007-08-19T13:13:00.000+09:30

At Ngukurr, there is a community swimming pool. It is clean, free and provides great fun for dozens of kids each day who go there after school and on saturdays to have a good time. the place is run and supervised by a team of local workers who are employed by the CDEP program. When the health dept came to look at the pool, there were no problems found - it was clean and well maintained. The benefits to the pool at Ngukurr are:

-keeping kids amused and entertained thereby giving parents and grandparents who look after big families in overcrowded houses and little bit of respite
-improving kids health - swimming in the chlorinated water keeps kids' skin clean and thereby reducing the stress on the local clinic for treating scabies, skin sores etc. which can be common problems in communities
-employment and training for local ppl on CDEP who work in the pool, many of whom now have their bronze medallion, a bit of training that comes in very handy.

So why does Mal Brough get a good work sticker? Cuz he's scrapping CDEP, which means there will be a lot fewer workers to run the pool (decreased employment). This may mean reduced opening hours. It may also mean that kids will have to pay to use the pool so that workers can be employed to work at the pool. This will reduce the number of kids using the pool, which will increase skin problems/health problems, thereby increasing the demand on the local clinic (greater health costs) and there is potential for greater boredom and less activities for kids who live in a community where there are already much fewer things to do for entertainment than there are in towns and cities. So maybe they'll just start smoking marijuana younger!

Good thinking Mal. Very wise.

Sadly, I can come up with dozens more examples of how ridiculous some of the govt. new laws are. Stay tuned for more!

"no rubber stamp"

2007-08-12T11:45:00.000+09:30

If you would like to do *something* to voice your concerns about the legislation currently going through Parliament, GetUp! has set up a campaign where you can email comments to senators about the legislation before Tuesday's vote.

Go to:

http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/NoRubberStamp&id=57

It's not much, but better than feeling completely powerless.

senate

2007-08-10T10:34:00.000+09:30

The government's intervention legislation is being discussed in the senate today. I'm still disgusted and disheartened by the government's actions - mostly with the process and approach they've taken with the whole affair, but also with some of the things that they're legislating (e.g. needing to suspend the racial discrimination act to pass through the legislation... surely that's gotta raise alarm bells).

It's all pretty depressing, especially when you feel so powerless to change what's happening. And that's exactly the reason why ppl are complaining about the paternalistic approach and lack of consultation - it's leaves ppl feeling completely disempowered...

And so today, some of the most important legislation concerning Ngukurr ppl is going through the senate, but ppl here at Ngukurr are barely aware of it. It is not fair and it is not just.

The Intervention

2007-08-02T11:56:00.000+09:30

Well, the survey team representing the government's 'intervention' came and went yesterday.

Firstly, the communication about the whole thing was poor. There were no announcements about them coming. The local council had to chase up the information themselves about when and what they were doing. Even yesterday, no one knew for sure if there would be a community meeting or if discussions would be 'behind closed doors' so to speak.

But they arrived. Norforce came first and just before lunch a team of public servants came. They first met with the local council and then held a public community meeting.

The meeting started with a representative from Darwin's FACSIA office running through the main points of the intervention: non-compulsory health checks, increased police, tying centrelink payments to school attendance, the wind-up of CDEP, removal of the permit system for the town area and emphasised that this was all in the name of protecting children and keeping them safe. This was all in English and not very plain English. An interpreter came with them but was not utilised.

After that, each public servant introduced themselves and told us what department they represented. The Norforce rep was the stand out - he spoke well and clearly said that their only role was for logistics support - to arrange travel and accommodation.

After that, it was opened up for Ngukurr residents to ask questions. There were some really good questions and points made and some a bit rambly and unfocused. Some people spoke really well. Highlights were:

Former council president DD spoke very strongly about overcrowded housing and how it needs to change and this has been an issue that has been well known for a long time and spoken about many times.

Local teacher RR spoke very strongly about the school. About the need for more facilities. About overcrowded classrooms and that if there was 100% attendance the school just was not equipped to handle it.

GD expressed her concerns about the health checks and said there was a lot of confusion - how some people thought that if children were found to be sexually active (which many teenagers are) they would be placed in foster care. She asked for a clear answer about this and this was about the only clear answer that was forthcoming from the government reps - health checks would be carried out in the same way they are carried out by the local clinic with the same processes.

These community meetings are intense affairs where everyone's deep seated concerns get a chance to bubble to the surface. And I was no different. I am deeply concerned about the changes to the permit system and was ready to pluck up the courage to say something too, but not being sure if I should, being a whitefella and all. But council president KR said it was fine so I got up to say my bit. Approaching the mic, the govt. rep looked at me apprehensively and asked 'where are you from?'. "I'm from here", i said and took the mic.

Facing 100 black faces with mic in hand was daunting, and so I uttered 'gardi!' (means 'goodness' or 'crikey') quietly and there was laughter from the Ngukurr mob who know me well. Anyway, I addressed the crowd in Kriol. In Kriol, I said i wanted to talk about permits. I said there was a review into the permit system last year and JJ from language centre made a submission with 200 signatures all saying they didn't want the permit system to change. I said the rangers also made a submission. I said, "ai nomo sabi eni blekbala la dis komyunidi hu wandim det permit system bla tjeinj" (I don't know any Aboriginal ppl in this community who want the permit system to change) and I said that there was never any report from the permit review and the government is going ahead and changing the law anyway, so that any whitefella can come to Ngukurr without a permit. Then I turned to the govt rep and said in English, "So my question to you is why is the government going ahead and changing the permit system when I don't know any Aboriginal people who want it to change?". And then I got a nice round of applause from the crowd and a wishy washy answer about there being pros and cons about changing the permit system and that was about as much as they said. One govt rep did try to say that by removing the permit system then it would be possible for a high school to be built in Ngukurr (which RR had said was badly needed) - something about service providers being able to come and do the work. This was met with a few cries of 'that's bullshit'.

The local principal (a Maori woman who has been here for 7 or so years) also spoke well, saying that the communication about their arrival was poor. That they need to inform people about what's happening much better. That this shows them respect and that if they do that then people will respect you and be more likely to support what you're trying to do. She also said that people struggle enough to look after children on centrelink payments so instead of punishing ppl whose children aren't attending, how about rewarding ppl whose children are good attenders.

As the meeting was winding up, GD (I think) asked a good question about what's going to happen from here. The answer to which was another wishy-washy one: the health survey team would be coming sometime soon but apart from that there was no information about what would happen next.

Other people spoke too and eventually the meeting wound up. After that, the public servants broke up to have smaller meeting with groups relevant to their dept. I sat in with the local people who are involved in Education who spoke to the DEET rep. He listened well to all the issues that people brought up, again discussing lack of facilities, lack of teacher housing, overcrowded classrooms, lack of training for assistant teachers. By that time it was 4 pm and by 5pm the govt people had all gone.

JJ, who I work closely with, commented that it was a good meeting, but it's a familiar story. The issues that were discussed are issues that have been around for a long time and Ngukurr ppl have brought them up again and again in similiar meetings with similar sorts of public servants. The mood from Ngukurr ppl afterwards seemed to be that they wait in sceptical hope that maybe something will come out of all of this.

Meanwhile, my adrenhalin was still pumping after having my first go at speaking at a public meeting and at public-speaking in Kriol. I was still a bit concerned at the appropriateness of me doing so, but I was thanked and praised by a number of Ngukurr people, black and white. Apparently I made the public servants 'ai kamat' (lit: eyes come out). And I hope that I showed them that it's not just a given that white people only speak English and that you can, if you try, learn to communicate in a way that makes Aboriginal ppl feel comfortable, happy and proud.

Gabmen mob kaman tumorra

2007-07-31T16:47:00.000+09:30

The government survey mob is coming tomorrow. Woo-hoo. Or as they say in Marra, jawayiga! (Although I'm not sure how well my sarcasm translates into Marra.)

here i am

2007-07-27T22:19:00.000+09:30

so slow with posting... sorry. so much happens and i have so much to share but so much of what happens is going by unblogged.

also, the politics (intervention etc.) is getting me down and is so overwhelming that i just don't know where to start blogging about it.

but i've had pretty good week at work. most of it has been out bush seeing places that i haven't seen before. Tuesday was a day trip to Walgundu with is a special site with rock art n lots of stories n history. The highlight was hanging out with some Alawa speakers that I used work with quite a bit and finally doing a bit of language work on Alawa again. Wednesday was in the office and the CDEP team worked so well - they're such a good team at the moment. But they're the ones pushing me to work! They made a gazillion flashcards for teaching and then we got through a fair bit of a Kriol translation job we're doing. Which is tiring but definitely not a bad thing! And Thursday/Friday was an overnight bush trip to Nyanyalindi as part of a school excursion for the high school kids. The mob I took were great company and we saw lots of country that I hadn't been to before and I helped (well, mostly watched) AP make spears and they had a bit of bunggul for the kids at night and I had fresh bream for lunch straight out of the fire. Tired but satisfied. :-)

Politics and getting on with it

2007-07-06T16:23:00.000+09:30

I've found all the politics stuff that's been in the news lately really full on. I've been thinking about it lots and have had lots to say, but then at the same time, I don't quite know what to say and don't quite know what to think. Generally though, I find it pretty scary what the government is doing - and I think the fear comes about from the poor communication - when no one can tell you or knows what's happening, you can't really reassure yourself that everything's okay. One thing I can say though, is that the government's actions definitely have political motivations - no one can convince me otherwise of that.

I was a bit depressed about it all a week or so ago, but I sorta came to the conclusion that I'll just get on with what we're trying to do here and then the proof (of our worth) will be in the pudding.

And have we been doing some good work or what? The 4 ppl working with me on CDEP are doing really well at the moment and are a good little team. The highlight being AJ and AD learning how to digitise old recordings from cassette onto the computer. So now we have 19 short Marra texts that are 33 years old digitised and can now be burned off as audio CDs. Even better is that I've shown AD, AJ and JJ how to update the written versions of the texts into the current Marra orthography so now we have these old recording that were sitting there not doing much now coming to life - on CD and printed off in a much more readable format. So cool.

You know, when I started working in communities, I was probably no different from most linguists when they start off. Fieldwork seemed to be about documenting language from an old person and the function of community members was little more than providing oral language - all the recording, writing, analysis was then done by the munanga linguist. But what I love about my work at the moment is that the guys I work with are doing more and more of everything - transcribing, typing up stuff, uploading sound files, recording, creating materials etc. One of my 'dreams' I wrote down at the start of the year is that I wanted my role to be more of that of 'coach' (someone who trains and directs) rather than 'player' (the person doing all the footwork)... and we seem to be slowly getting there.

Good work guys!

the worst

2007-06-26T09:06:00.000+09:30

I am really scared about what the government's doing with their 'National emergency response'. So much so, that I really just want to put my head in the sand because thinking about what might happen is terrifying, but putting my head in the sand is not going to be very helpful.

I've started reading the 'Little children are sacred' report (from the inquiry into child protection from sexual abuse) and the government's response and I'll comment as I go along.

One very important point stands out in the very first recommendation of the report - a point that Howard's government seems to have missed totally. "It is critical that both governments commit to genuine consultation with Aboriginal people in designing initiatives for Aboriginal communities."

Let me repeat that:

"It is critical that both governments commit to genuine consultation with Aboriginal people in designing initiatives for Aboriginal communities."

That recommendation has now been totally ignored by the government. Totally.

I will comment more about all this business soon, but in the meantime, I was talking briefly about the government's action with JJ, who is very concerned (as probably are all Aboriginal ppl living in communities) and I said to him 'out of all the no-good things the government has done to youmob this is the worst'. (Well, the worst in my time - fortunately I wasn't around when Aboriginal ppl were being killed, raped, removed from families, having their land taken over, punished for speaking language etc.)

article

2007-06-25T08:25:00.000+09:30

Hey I'm in another article. Look here. And I don't even think I sound too silly!

no-no

2007-06-15T10:02:00.000+09:30

Occasionally, I get asked if there's any meaning behind the names of the languages we work with here, like, if a similar thing happens here that you get on the east coast where language names are sometimes derived for the word for 'no, nothing' in that language (e.g. Gooreng gooreng (from Bundaberg area) is the word for 'no' reduplicated).

That doesn't happen here but I like to think what the languages would be called if that *did* happen here:

Marluy marluy
Mandi mandi
Gatjja gatjja
Waba waba
Waari waari

hehe... sounds funny.

But then the other day I realised that it *does* happen for one of the languages here, although only informally and in casual speech... I realised that I've regularly ppl talking about Yolŋu or Ritharrŋu / Wägilak mob and referring to them as 'yaka bayaŋu mob'. Neat!

Pidgin and creoles workshop

2007-06-13T20:30:00.000+09:30

Last week we had a big week in town (Katherine). We had two days with Batchelor and then three days with the Education Department for a Language Revitalisation Workshop.

One of the highlights was working with Batchelor's linguistics students. They were in Katherine for a week-long workshop on Pidgins and Creoles. Their lecturer approached us to present something about the creole spoken at Ngukurr so we did a three hour session with them which was enjoyed by everyone.

Usmob really enjoyed meeting the linguistics students and finding out where they’re from. They came from all over: Torres Strait, Desert, Western NSW, Victoria, Palm Island and came from different backgrounds (but all Indigenous). And they really enjoyed meeting the guys from Ngukurr and learning a bit about Kriol. It was just one of those lovely sharing experiences, but also included lots of discussion, opining and more.

I was reflecting on why I enjoyed the session with them so much. One reason was that being linguistics students, I could use linguistics terms and be understood. Normally, I have to explain what a pronoun is, let alone more tricky things like the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb – but these guys knew it straight away which was lovely.

But it wasn’t til later that night I realised the main reason I enjoyed working with that mob. Because they’re linguists (or learning to be linguists) whose goal is the same as ours here at Ngukurr: the betterment of Indigenous languages and people. And it was comforting and refreshing. It was just so nice to be teaching like-minded people! And they warmed my heart to see what they’re learning and doing. I wish them all the best.

Marra and elan

2007-06-01T14:44:00.000+09:30

The Marra team I work with here is just getting stronger and stronger. Their latest achievement is learning some basic skills on elan - which is a program linguists use where you can link sound to text - it helps a lot when you're transcribing and translating texts and it's good for listening to audio and reading along with it.

So JJ, AJ and AD who are all on CDEP and the language centre have all learned to use elan a little bit - selecting and playing the sound files while reading the annotated text, as well as entering in the text so that it then attaches itself to the soundfile. And the wonderful FR has been helping us with the transcriptions and translations because the rest of us are all still learning Marra.

So in the past two weeks we've transcribed and translated a 9-minute story in Marra spoken by an old lady a couple of years ago. It's been a good learning experience for me too. Here's a little bit of the story:

... wala-yurranyi na-warlja.
Guwarda-niwiyinji nana ragalunju: "buuuuuuuuuub".
"Ei! Jaw-wilanyi warlja nanggaya nyin.garr. Jawayiga!", wala-mindininya.
Yundunyuga jaw-wilanyi.
"Yundunyuga jaw-niwanji!"

Rough translation:
They used to go for dugong.
We would hear the trumpet shell: 'boooooooop'.
"Hey! They harpooned dugong, they're coming. Good-o!", they used to say.
They would harpoon sea turtle.
"We harpooned sea turtle!" (they would say).

Old languages and new technologies. Beautiful.

wildlife

2007-05-26T12:59:00.000+09:30

Okay, I'm rubbish at taking photos. I average about one a month when in reality there's thousands of things I could be taking great photos of. But here's a couple of wildlife pics. First one is 'urban' wildlife, my neighbour who is looking after a wallaby that was rescued after its mum become roadkill... so cute! The second one is a big momma Praying Mantis sitting happily on the pandanus i planted at the language centre two and a half years ago (planted from seeds, i might add... I'm very proud of my pandanus).

running roughshod over Traditional Owners

2007-05-04T13:02:00.000+09:30

Borroloola is a town/community south-east of Ngukurr and the two places have strong ties.

The NT Govt is running roughshod over the locals and Traditional Owners who are trying to legally stop a mine expansion and the diversion of their river(!).

It's absolutely shameful.

My gagu has been writing about it on his blog. Click on the link to 'matjjin-nehen' there on the right please.

If there was something more I could suggest you do, I'd ask you to do it, but I don't know what we can do!

Very sad indeed.

hear hear

2007-04-26T16:32:00.000+09:30

From ABC News website:

---

Former prime minister Malcolm Fraser says the Federal Government has ignored most of a major report on the removal of Indigenous Australians from their families.

In the lead up to next month's 10-year anniversary of the 'Bringing Them Home' report, Mr Fraser has attacked the Government's handling of Indigenous affairs, saying it has regressed.

Mr Fraser says neither the Federal Government nor the Opposition is showing any real interest in Aboriginal affairs.

He says more money needs to be spent on health, and education has gone backwards.

Mr Fraser, who is a co-patron of the Stolen Generations Alliance, says there is no stark point of difference between the two major parties on Aboriginal affairs.

He says the Federal Government should follow the Canadian Government's example.

"The Canadians have shown a very real interest in resolving these problems," he said.

"The kind of interest that hasn't come from Canberra, [from] either party.

"I don't really believe has come from either of the major parties in the state arena."

Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) chair, Lowitja O'Donoghue, has supported Mr Fraser's stand.

She says this is the worst time in Aboriginal affairs history.

some bushman i am

2007-04-26T16:22:00.000+09:30

The school started its bush trips again today, now that the wet seasons gone and the roads are dry (well.. dryish).

And so me n JJ gathered a few old people to go out bush and teach kids language and culture. We were a bit early so we stopped on the way and old DB started cutting wood to make boomerangs. I started helping, chopping off a branch with an axe, and next thing a bit of wood flew in my eye! It was very uncomfortable and I couldn't wash it out. By the time the other troopies came by with all the kids, I'd had enough and asked JJ to take me back to Ngukurr so I could go to the clinic. So they dropped me off and then went back to join the excursion. And me, well, standing in the waiting room, the bit of wood came out of my eye all by itself and so I walked home feeling relieved and rather silly.

I heart language revitalisation

2007-04-20T15:25:00.000+09:30

Today we recorded my little banji reading a Marra story that goes like this:

Manabarru

Nana ninya manabarru.
Wagmin nana manabarru.
Wiji gana wa-jinja nana ninya.
Gana nyardin-gugi, wagmin.
Nana ninya manabarru, marluy gana ngalgi-wugi. Marluy. Guda.

These words were spoken by FR and we turned it into a little storybook that we have been using in the school program. A translation of the story is:

Buffalo

This is a buffalo.
The buffalo is black.
It eats grass.
It's skin is black.
The buffalo doesn't have a skin name (subsection). Nothing. That's all.

My little banji, JF, is about 12 and he read the story pretty well. It's pretty special for a 12 year old kid to be able to read that story in a language which is only spoken by a few old people.

Lots of credit to the Marra team here at Ngukurr who do a wonderful job. I heart language revitalisation.

Jidan kwait!

2007-04-19T16:31:00.000+09:30

I learned another good word today (courtesy of AJ and old FR): Ngayab-gumi.

Ngayab-gumi is a Marra word meaning 'jidan kwait' in Kriol (lit: Sit down quiet) and it's a very useful word to use in the classroom for the Marra students who tend to get a bit restless (which is nearly all of them, nearly all of the time!).

The English translation of the Kriol phrase 'jidan kwait', isn't as straightforward as it seems. You'd be inclined to translate it literally as 'sit quietly', but I recently learned that you can be told to 'jandap en jidan kwait', which makes no sense when translated literally because you are telling someone to stand up and sit down quietly. But to 'jandap en jidan kwait' means more like 'stand up and be good/don't move/behave yourself/don't talk'. And so I think the best translation of 'jidan kwait' might be 'behave yourself'.

But anyway, I'll just embrace the Marra version, Ngayab-gumi.

jahbony

2007-04-09T11:59:00.000+09:30

This time of year there's only two ways to leave Ngukurr: either on a very small aeroplane or as shown - by a 30min/1hr boat ride up to Fomail (which is still 300kms from Katherine).

Which is what I did the other day. And now I'm having a lovely Easter in Katherine. I wonder if I'll get to drive back to Ngukurr?

yo manymak wäwa!

2007-04-02T16:56:00.000+09:30

My wäwa, BW, rocks. Here a few reasons why. (He's the one in the middle. He gave me this photo today, it was taken last month while he was in Melbourne).

He likes to teach anyone and everyone his language Wägilak. He cleans the council office here everyday and he's been teaching the Accounts woman a few bits of Wägilak. She came up to me going 'B keeps teaching me his language but I don't know what he's saying!'. So I asked him what he's been teaching her and then I wrote it down for her, and she knows it now. So every morning when BW asks her Nhämirri nhe? (how are you?) she answers, Manymak (good).

BW has started committing himself to teaching Wägilak in our school classes and he's excellent. He has authority with the kids and is a natural gifted teacher. Today, I sat down with him and my gaburani (uncle) DW and they made a new song to teach the little kids (to the tune of london bridge is falling down):

Detuŋdja ŋay djirryuna djirryuna djirryuna
Detuŋdja ŋay djirryuna
Larruwala ŋay gapugu

(The buffalo went down, went down, went down)
(The buffalo went down)
(He was looking for water)

And after making the song, BW said the words that are magic to any linguists ears... 'yu garrim teip? ai wandi pudum la teip.' (Have you got a stereo? I want to record it).

BW is also the man who got me up dancing bunggul and showed me what to do.

Last Friday, BW got back from Melbourne. He was down there (with 2 other guys from here) performing at Federation square, with the Australian Art Orchestra, as part of the Swimming World Championships festival. He also performed at the opening of an Ngukurr Arts art exhibition. Coming home, he was even more determined to strengthen and maintain culture, dance and language here at Ngukurr. What a good man. Manymak wäwa!

last kapula weeks

2007-03-26T18:24:00.001+09:30

Hey sorry. I haven't posted for a while. To play catch-up I'll just have to summarise the last couple of weeks, but I'm going to do it in the style of my real banji (brother-in-law), who describes things as a 'F' (big 'f') - which is a good thing and then 'f' (little 'f') - which is a not-so-good thing. Here's a summary of the last couple of weeks working here at Ngukurr:

F - an amazing session working with old MT on Marra. FR and BR were also there, creating a very rare Marra speech community. We recorded some conversation. MT *demanded* I speak Marra to her ("You've been here long enough!"), which was extremely difficult but fun. We translated and transcribed 6 minutes of Marra in 3 hours. JJ and AJ learned some basic skills on ELAN. It was pretty spectacular.
F - helping three artists with stories for their entries to the 27th Telstra Aboriginal Art Award. Not only do I love learning about the art, I also get a lot of satisfaction from knowing the stories are going to be fairly accurate cuz I have a decent level of cultural understanding. But the best part is that the artists are really happy that their stories are being written down well.
f - the rain hasn't stopped and the community is still cut off by road
F - Another workshop for the guys I work with who are enrolled in the Batchelor course for Own Language Work. They're getting through it pretty well. Especially my wawa, AG, who has come so far in two years.
f - Nobody is interested in Nunggubuyu and no one has been teaching Nunggubuyu at the school.
F - JJ gave me a present - a set of beautiful clapsticks. So lovely. (I went to Katherine and he had $350 to buy him a chainsaw. It cost $440 and I said 'don't worry about the rest, but you have to make me something now!'. And he did... hehe... I like it when humbugging works in your favour.)
f - my house in Katherine is getting mouldy and full of weeds and I'm not there to look after it
f - there's somebody in Katherine who I'm missing a bit too much
F - the Waagilak mob here are doing great. Teaching with commitment and enthusiasm. Now I just have convince them to work at language centre everyday and learn to read n write Waagilak... hehehe
F- Our territory MP Barb McCarthy came to visit last week and I had a good chat with her. She really supports what we do, which is lovely.
f - Mal Brough is still our Federal Minister. And that somebody is still PM... but maybe not for long :-)

Any questions? I can expand if you like... otherwise I'll just continue going about my business.

And I should take some photos to make this blog look lively.... hmmm...

blijiman

2007-03-06T16:53:00.000+09:30

I learned a cool new Rembarrnga word yesterday.

Me n my wawa were listening to an old recording of him telling a story and halfway, I lost what he was talking about.

"We saw two policeman", he translated for me. But I couldn't hear where he was talking about any blijiman (Kriol for policeman).

And so my wawa taught me that Rembarrnga has its own word for policeman (which is what he said on the recording):

Nguwahjœrrœ.

It's my favourite new word which I'm going to use now, and say, "Nguwahjœrrœ baganh!". (There's a policeman there!).

Note: Question for further thought - What's the cultural significance of the fact that the Rembarrnga word for policeman incorporates the Rembarrnga word for 'cheeky' or 'a thing to be wary of'...