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The Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project has been the topic for two recent seminars delivered at the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) in Canberra.

On 20th February, Professor Michael Walsh discussed his prelimary findings from the research phase of the project. He has uncovered a wealth of material (including previously unknown items) relating to over 100 languages around the country.

On 19th March, Ronald Briggs and Melissa Jackson, Indigenous Services Librarians, delivered a presentation on the upcoming phase of the project - the description, cataloguing, preservation and digitisation of the wordlists identified during the research phase.

Both presentations can be viewed via the AIATSIS website (seminars 2 & 4).

On 2 December 2011, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, launched the initiative, Rediscovering Indigenous Languages, in the Mitchell vestibule at the State Library of New South Wales. 

Above, L-R : Melissa Jackson, Indigenous Services Librarian; Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales; Emma Gray, Discover Collections Librarian

About 150 guests attended the event - including The Hon. Victor Dominello MP, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs NSW; David Peever, Managing Director of Rio Tinto Australia (along with senior executives from Rio Tinto); as well as senior members of the Library Council and Foundation Board, including Rob Thomas and Peter Crossing.

The Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir enthralled the audience with their angelic voices, singing in several Indigenous languages. Their performance echoed the fundamentals of this project - embracing Indigenous culture and rescuing and maintaining Indigenous languages.  

Above : The Gondwana National Indigenous Children's ChoirThe Library is particularly grateful to Rio Tinto who is not only a valued and long standing Library supporter, but should be praised for their involvement in many Indigenous programs across Australia.  The outcomes of this collaborative project will have positive impact on Indigenous communities nationwide.

The Rediscovering Indigenous Languages was launched to the media in August 2011. 

The landmark "search and rescue" mission has been supported from far and wide.  The Hon George Souris, Minister for the Arts articulated that  ‘a nation’s oral and written language is the backbone to its culture.  The preservation of the languages and dialects of our Indigenous citizens is a very important project in this regard.’

We received letters of support from The Hon Tony Abbott MHR,  Leader of the Opposition who stated that 'we need to preserve our history, be it elements of indigenous culture or documents from our formative years, Australians should take pride in the collective history of our nation'.

Warren Mundine (Australian Indigenous Chamber of Commerce) commended the partnership for undertaking this important and culturally significant project '…for the benefit of Aboriginal communities and for future generations of Australians'.

The Hon Peter Collier MLC (Minister or Energy, Training and Workforce Development; Indigenous Affairs) concluded that this is an excellent initiative that will bring together a valuable collection of material '… and for the maintenance and development of Australia’s indigenous languages'.

At the launch of Rediscovering Indigenous Languages at the Mitchell Library, August 2011.
(L-R) Mr Mick Gooda (Patron); Mr Sam Maresh (Rio Tinto); The Hon George Souris MP (Minister for the Arts); The Hon Victor Dominello MP (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs); Ms Melissa Jackson (Indigenous Services Librarian, State Library of NSW)

Rio Tinto and the State Library of NSW Foundation have formed a three-year partnership to support a vital three-year landmark project - Rediscovering Indigenous Languages – to document Indigenous wordlists or vocabularies held in the State Library’s archive.
 
Within the Library’s archival records are letters, manuscripts, diaries and journals which document Indigenous languages of NSW,Queensland,Victoria andTasmania (from 1788–1930s). These are often the only surviving records of these languages. This project aims to identify as many of these wordlists as possible and make them available to the public, and in particular, relevant Indigenous communities.  This project will add significantly to the current interest in community driven language reclamation work. For the vast majority of languages inEastern Australia, which have no substantial dictionaries or grammars, these wordlists will provide an opportunity for communities to access their own languages.

The project aims to: 

• Make available, in a culturally appropriate framework, surviving language lists to indigenous communities 
• Develop protocols for the publication of language lists, to ensure that they meet community needs, and allow communities to contribute their knowledge to library records about their languages
• Locate previously hidden languages lists in the Library’s collections
• Increase public awareness of Indigenous language and cultural history
• Be an effective educational resource contributing to school curriculum and further research