Wai! Palya!

While bush workshops, ‘memory basket’ production, planning for attendance at another youth learning workshop in Darwin in September, ongoing documentary work and Nyuntu Ngali creative development all tick along here at Ngapartji Ngapartji, the focus of this news posting will be on an issue that sits squarely behind all of these activities - raising public awareness of the status and significance of indigenous languages, of their rapid loss, and of the pressing need to create policy and strategies to promote, preserve, and maintain indigenous languages, as well as ensure they have a respected and valued place in Australian society and life.

 As discussed briefly in the previous posting (June), a big part of the ongoing work done here at Ngapartji Ngapartji has been using the high profile created by project arts activity, such as the theatre show, as leverage to push for social change, in this case to lobby for a National Indigenous Language policy. The last month has seen some significant and exciting developments in this area, including Alex taking an incredible collection of over forty letters in support of such a policy to Minister Macklin in Canberra, and consequently receiving word of a commitment to develop an indigenous languages action plan.

Alex recently shared the background of these developments with us at Ngapartji Ngapartji, as well as detailing where all this sits in both the project’s and Big hART’s commitment to social change. It was a fascinating session and worth sharing some of the details….