Newsletter date: 21 December 2013
Contents:
* Shyamla Eswaran, Green Left: Aboriginal languages a source of strength
* Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Curtis Taylor - world's largest digital storytelling archive for 16 language groups
* Claire Bowern, The Conversation: Language nests: a way to revive Indigenous languages at risk
* Chris Raja, ABC Indigenous: Australia is the place of vanishing languages
* Background to the use of Aboriginal languages in NT schools (bilingual education)
* The Wire: Restricted - a new exhibition explores Indigenous identity [Featuring artist, Raymond Zada]
* The Guardian: Five questions to Amy McQuire: on Australia's two worlds - one for black and one for white
* Let's Talk's Tiga Bayles interviews Jeff McMullen, Jon Altman, Mary Graham & Rodney Dillon
* Solidarity Online: Teachers in NT vote for more strikes to stop cuts
* SHYAMLA ESWARAN, GREEN LEFT: ABORIGINAL LANGUAGES A SOURCE OF STRENGTH
- Analysis / Opinion
Green Left: Aboriginal languages a source of strength
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/55550
7 Dec 13: "Ninety two percent of Indigenous languages are fading or extinct. Australia has suffered the largest and most rapid known loss of languages and past government policies have been largely to blame. This is clearly outlined in the Our Land: Our Languages report which was released by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs late last year. The committee found governments had actively repressed the use of Indigenous languages throughout contemporary Australian history. They did so by outlawing the use by Aboriginal people of their mother tongue." By Shyamla Eswaran
* GERRY GEORGATOS, THE STRINGER: CURTIS TAYLOR - WORLD'S LARGEST DIGITAL STORYTELLING ARCHIVE FOR 16 LANGUAGE GROUPS
- Analysis / Opinion
The Stringer: Curtis Taylor - world's largest digital storytelling archive for 16 language groups
http://thestringer.com.au/curtis-taylor-worlds-largest-digital-storytell...
20 Nov 13: "Western Desert Martu filmmaker Curtis Taylor is developing a digital archive for language groups of Western Australia for all people to access and learn about their own history and for others to learn of the history of the First Peoples of Western Australia. Mr Taylor, who came to prominence with the Canning Stock Route project, is digitally archiving Aboriginal content, histories, documents and images, for digital sharing and digital story-telling. 23 year-old Mr Taylor is an award winning filmmaker with a bent for recording the histories of Western Australia’s Aboriginal peoples for the sake of posterity. ... " By Gerry Georgatos, a life-long human rights and social justice campaigner, a multi-award winning investigative journalist
* CLAIRE BOWERN, THE CONVERSATION: LANGUAGE NESTS: A WAY TO REVIVE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES AT RISK
- Analysis / Opinion
The Conversation: Language nests: a way to revive Indigenous languages at risk
http://theconversation.com/language-nests-a-way-to-revive-indigenous-lan...
13 Nov 13: "More than 90% of Australia’s Indigenous languages are critically endangered and two-thirds of those languages spoken a hundred years ago are now dormant. The seeds of the current situation were sown long ago, even before English was widespread in remote communities and Aboriginal children went to school. Genocide, forced population removal, disease, stolen children, and community disruption - all of these have contributed to the precarious state of Indigenous languages today. ... " Claire Bowern, Associate Professor of Linguistics at Yale University
* CHRIS RAJA, ABC INDIGENOUS: AUSTRALIA IS THE PLACE OF VANISHING LANGUAGES
- Analysis / Opinion
ABC Indigenous: Australia is the place of vanishing languages
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-19/raja-australia-is-the-place-of-van...
19 Nov 13: "More needs to be done to protect Indigenous languages and the culture and heritage they represent, writes Chris Raja. ... We need to celebrate the multilingual diversity of Australia, especially amongst its first people. Instead of devaluing the fact that this nation's first people can speak several languages, can we respect two-way learning? Let's cherish the wealth and wonder of people who still know these old, rare languages and stories that we have tried so hard to eradicate." By Chris Raja, an Alice Springs-based writer
* BACKGROUND TO THE USE OF ABORIGINAL LANGUAGES IN NT SCHOOLS (BILINGUAL EDUCATION):
Last updated: 9 November 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/05/05/background-to-the-use-of-aboriginal-l...
* THE WIRE: RESTRICTED - A NEW EXHIBITION EXPLORES INDIGENOUS IDENTITY [FEATURING ARTIST, RAYMOND ZADA]
- Audio Interview
The Wire: Restricted - a new exhibition explores Indigenous identity
Produced by Catherine Zengerer
http://www.thewire.org.au/storyDetail.aspx?ID=11014
6 Nov 13: "When Aboriginal artist Raymond Zada created Racebook, a piece responding to racial slurs on Facebook, he never imagined it would go on to win him an art prize, and lead him to develop a full exhibition. Restricted, which recently opened at National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Tandanya, examines issues facing Indigenous Australians and other minority groups, such as identity, labelling, and sorry business.
Image: At Face Value by Raymond Zada
Featured in story: Artist, Raymond Zada"
* THE GUARDIAN: FIVE QUESTIONS TO AMY MCQUIRE: ON AUSTRALIA'S TWO WORLDS - ONE FOR BLACK AND ONE FOR WHITE
- Analysis / Opinion
The Guardian: Five questions to Amy McQuire: on Australia's two worlds - one for black and one for white
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/20/five-questions-to-a...
20 Dec 13: "What issue are you most passionate about?
I think the sky-high rates Australia jails Aboriginal men, women and children are appalling and an international embarrassment. The latest cuts to Aboriginal legal aid will only further burden a system that already jails Indigenous people at some of the highest rates in the western world. Locking up blackfellas further ruptures communities and begets a cycle of disadvantage and dysfunction. It says to me the Abbott government is not serious about closing the gap."
* LET'S TALK'S TIGA BAYLES INTERVIEWS JEFF MCMULLEN, JON ALTMAN, MARY GRAHAM & RODNEY DILLAN
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane:
Let's Talk - Jeff McMullen
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/
19 Dec 13: "Journalist, Author, Speaker, Film Maker & Human Rights Advocate Links: http://www.jeffmcmullen.com.au/ "
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/jeff-mcmullen-13/
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane:
Let's Talk - Jon Altman
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/
18 Dec 13: "Professor Jon Altman, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research (CAEPR), Australian National University Canberra"
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/jon-altman-7/
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane:
Let's Talk - Mary Graham
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/
17 Dec 13: "Kombumerri woman Mary Graham"
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/mary-graham-3/
- Audio Interview
Indigenous radio station 98.9FM Brisbane:
Let's Talk - Rodney Dillon
http://www.989fm.com.au/category/podcasts/lets-talk/
16 Dec 13: "Rodney, a Tasmanian Aborigine (Palawa) is a former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) Commissioner and recipient of the NAIDOC male Person of the Year in 2006 and was recently awarded the Human Rights Individual Award at the Tasmanian Human Rights Awards"
Listen to this interview on-line:
http://www.989fm.com.au/podcasts/lets-talk/rodney-dillon-2/
* SOLIDARITY ONLINE: TEACHERS IN NT VOTE FOR MORE STRIKES TO STOP CUTS
- News
Solidarity Online: Teachers in NT vote for more strikes to stop cuts
http://www.solidarity.net.au/62/teachers-in-nt-vote-for-more-strikes-to-...
November 2013: "More than 1800 school teachers in the NT staged a 24-hour strike on 12 November against job losses and cuts estimated to total $47 million next year. Twenty nine schools across the territory were shut, with the rest in caretaker mode. Teacher numbers in secondary schools have been cut, increasing class sizes. Another 71 support staff including ESL specialists and school counselors will also lose their jobs. The cuts will hit remote schools in Aboriginal communities hard, with new staffing allocations to be determined by school attendance, not enrolment. This means less resources for schools that need the funding most. ... "
- - -
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