Developing narratives from language and stories indigenous to the south coast of Western Australia. Over time linguists have collected Indigenous language narratives. This research project involves returning these narratives to the descendants of the people who first created human society in their part of the world. It will investigate the extent to which an Indigenous language and its stories, can inform contemporary writing in English about Australian identity.
Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development - Grant ID: DI110100010
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$399,982.00
Summary
Nyungar Boodjera Wangkiny: the people's land is speaking: Nyungar place nomenclature of the southwest of Western Australia. This project identifies geographical names of places in the southwest of Western Australia. Multiple media will be used to tell the unique story of the meanings of the Nyungar place names and a collection of 14 maps covering the southwest of Western Australia, based on their regional areas as defined by their linguistic practices, will be created.
Preserving Aboriginal language through song archives. This project aims to explore how song can preserve vanishing Indigenous languages. Song and language are integral to the wellbeing and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and the loss of Indigenous languages is a national and global crisis. Focusing on the endangered Nyungar language of the south-west of Western Australia, this project will develop a model to recirculate and perform archival songs in online and physical spaces, engaging the comm ....Preserving Aboriginal language through song archives. This project aims to explore how song can preserve vanishing Indigenous languages. Song and language are integral to the wellbeing and knowledge of Indigenous peoples, and the loss of Indigenous languages is a national and global crisis. Focusing on the endangered Nyungar language of the south-west of Western Australia, this project will develop a model to recirculate and perform archival songs in online and physical spaces, engaging the community while developing resources for future use. The outcomes of this project are expected to inform global efforts to sustain intangible cultural heritage and contribute to the Australian reconciliation agenda.Read moreRead less
Narrative, Technologies and Wirlomin Moorditj-abiny. The project aims to investigate how digital technologies in combination with on-Country camps may consolidate, enhance and help share a specific Aboriginal heritage.
The project will generate new knowledge by workshopping select archival Noongar language, story and song material with its home community so as to enable an Indigenous-led articulation of identity and belonging.
Expected outcomes include improved cross-generational transmissio ....Narrative, Technologies and Wirlomin Moorditj-abiny. The project aims to investigate how digital technologies in combination with on-Country camps may consolidate, enhance and help share a specific Aboriginal heritage.
The project will generate new knowledge by workshopping select archival Noongar language, story and song material with its home community so as to enable an Indigenous-led articulation of identity and belonging.
Expected outcomes include improved cross-generational transmission, empowerment of the appropriate Noongar community, social cohesion and the generation of transformative narratives as well as publication.
Benefits include community well-being, a potentially refined integration of ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, and modelling of Reconciliation strategies.
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Noongar kaatdijin bidi: Noongar knowledge networks; or, Why is there no Noongar Wikipedia? This project will use the Noongar language to model and assess the extent to which minority languages can thrive by using globally accessible internet technologies. It will generate critical insights into the relations between knowledge, culture and technology and investigate how oral and informal knowledge sources can be accessed for a text-based website in the digital era. The outcomes of this project wi ....Noongar kaatdijin bidi: Noongar knowledge networks; or, Why is there no Noongar Wikipedia? This project will use the Noongar language to model and assess the extent to which minority languages can thrive by using globally accessible internet technologies. It will generate critical insights into the relations between knowledge, culture and technology and investigate how oral and informal knowledge sources can be accessed for a text-based website in the digital era. The outcomes of this project will include a greater understanding of how to link technology with users for community sustainability, as well as further insights into how social learning can be improved via interacting online networks.Read moreRead less
Restoring on-Country performance: song, language and south coast landscapes. This project aims to investigate relationships between place, people and endangered performance traditions in the south coast region of Western Australia. For the first time, it will bring together work on archival song and language material, ecological readings of landscape and Indigenous community expertise to extend and enhance knowledge of critically endangered Nyungar songlines. Expected outcomes include increased ....Restoring on-Country performance: song, language and south coast landscapes. This project aims to investigate relationships between place, people and endangered performance traditions in the south coast region of Western Australia. For the first time, it will bring together work on archival song and language material, ecological readings of landscape and Indigenous community expertise to extend and enhance knowledge of critically endangered Nyungar songlines. Expected outcomes include increased community capacity to develop, maintain and share a place-based performance repertoire and the potential to nourish social cohesion, strengthen connection to Country and aid re-interpretation of the landscape. This should provide benefits to Indigenous wellbeing, environmental understanding and processes of reconciliation.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100493
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$350,000.00
Summary
Aboriginal English in the global city: Minorities and language change. This project aims to document patterns of variation and change in metropolitan Aboriginal English. Since colonisation, English has encroached on Australian languages, and Aboriginal English has emerged as a powerful carrier of ethnic identity. The project will quantitatively study how Aboriginal English storytelling functions cross-generationally, and whether global linguistic innovations are apparent. Exploring these dynamic ....Aboriginal English in the global city: Minorities and language change. This project aims to document patterns of variation and change in metropolitan Aboriginal English. Since colonisation, English has encroached on Australian languages, and Aboriginal English has emerged as a powerful carrier of ethnic identity. The project will quantitatively study how Aboriginal English storytelling functions cross-generationally, and whether global linguistic innovations are apparent. Exploring these dynamics is key to understanding language change in minority urban communities, and to refining educational programs to suit the needs of Indigenous children and youth. The project expects to inform the implementation of cross-cultural teaching programmes in Australia, helping teachers and curriculum developers to design materials, and to empower Indigenous Australians by documenting how Aboriginal English is changing.Read moreRead less
Recirculating Indigenous traveling songs. This project aims to develop new understandings of how unrestricted Indigenous traveling songs have spread across vast geographic and linguistic boundaries in Australia, investigating ways these songs can contribute to greater social connectedness today. It intends to energise collaborative networks across Indigenous communities, language centres, and holding institutions around the world. Forging models to reinvigorate the performance of traveling songs ....Recirculating Indigenous traveling songs. This project aims to develop new understandings of how unrestricted Indigenous traveling songs have spread across vast geographic and linguistic boundaries in Australia, investigating ways these songs can contribute to greater social connectedness today. It intends to energise collaborative networks across Indigenous communities, language centres, and holding institutions around the world. Forging models to reinvigorate the performance of traveling songs across a wide and diverse range of interconnected localities, this project should advance the potential for Indigenous performance culture to contribute to language revitalisation, cultural identity, and the facilitation of cross-cultural diplomacy in national and international contexts.Read moreRead less
Re-integrating Central Australian community cultural collections. This project aims to apply current research on archiving and community access to find practical solutions to managing the large amounts of recorded cultural material of interest to the Central Land Council, the peak Indigenous representative body covering the southern half of the Northern Territory. The project aims to identify and integrate information in a common database, work with community members to create a prioritised list ....Re-integrating Central Australian community cultural collections. This project aims to apply current research on archiving and community access to find practical solutions to managing the large amounts of recorded cultural material of interest to the Central Land Council, the peak Indigenous representative body covering the southern half of the Northern Territory. The project aims to identify and integrate information in a common database, work with community members to create a prioritised list of any at-risk materials and apply locally meaningful categories for managing the archival materials relevant to their community, and deliver appropriate documentation of process, permissions and reports to support ongoing sustainability of the collections.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE210100013
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,000.00
Summary
Nyingarn: a platform for primary sources in Australian Indigenous languages. This project aims to build Nyingarn, an online platform of digital text versions of early Australian Indigenous language manuscripts with images of the original documents. There are over a thousand such documents that are foundational to understanding Australia's languages, and Nyingarn makes textual versions, accessions, and navigates such documents, with a means for adding more in future. Expected outcomes of this pro ....Nyingarn: a platform for primary sources in Australian Indigenous languages. This project aims to build Nyingarn, an online platform of digital text versions of early Australian Indigenous language manuscripts with images of the original documents. There are over a thousand such documents that are foundational to understanding Australia's languages, and Nyingarn makes textual versions, accessions, and navigates such documents, with a means for adding more in future. Expected outcomes of this project are accessible sources useful for educational materials, and for understanding the local language, its history, and its relationship to other languages. Nyingarn will provide cutting-edge methods for ingesting, analysing, and presenting these historical materials, both for research and for the general public.Read moreRead less