Great Book Swap Language Fact Sheet Lungkura House Lungkura in Walmajarri language translates as blue-tongued lizard.
Significance of Animal
The blue-tongued lizard goes by a few names: blue-tongued skink, blue-tongue or simply ‘bluey’. It’s no surprise that the main thing it is known for is its large blue tongue, which is sometimes poked out to ward off potential enemies. Blue-tongued lizards are quite shy. And they also move more slowly than other lizards due to their short legs. This makes them relatively easy catching for anyone wanting an instant feed in the Great Sandy Desert. Although blue-tongues thrive in open tussocky country, at night they tend to shelter in burrows or under logs and large rocks. Blue-tongues feature in some traditional Walmajarri stories. They are often associated with fire, and in some tales are depicted as tricksters or even sorcerers.
About the language
Walmajarri is an Australian language primarily spoken by people living in or on the edges of the Great Sandy Desert and parts of the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. There are approximately 300 speakers of Walmajarri spread across communities such as Junjuwa (Fitzroy Crossing), Yakanarra, Kadjina, Bayulu, Wangkajungka (Christmas Creek), Looma, Djugerari (Cherrabun), Yungngora, Millijidee, Mukan, Mindibungu (Bililuna) and Ngumpan.
Did you know? Classroom Activities
Using the AIATSIS Map in your resource kit, At the time of European settlement in can you find Walmajarri country? 1788, over 250 languages with more than 700 dialects were spoken across Australia. What other animals can you think of that move slowly? Today, only about 80 of those languages Can you name some other famous fictional are spoken, mainly by elders. or literary lizards? Fewer than 20 Indigenous languages How many languages are spoken by students are currently being learnt by in your classroom or at home? Australian children.
Refer to the Teaching Notes for more information, classroom ideas and list of useful websites.
Visit our languages page for more great resources! www.ilf.or.au/languages Yirri kip a y i
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i ig Bigib la ar p m a
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About Walmajarri country
The traditional lands of the Walmajarri people are the Great Sandy Desert, which is Australia’s second largest desert (about 284,993 square kilometres). To the south lies the Gibson Desert, while to the east is the Tanami Desert. These days, not many people live in the Great Sandy Desert. After this vast arid region was colonised by European settlers, many Walmajarri moved onto cattle stations or church-run missions in the East Kimberley to the north. This has meant that today people who speak the Walmajarri language tend to be spread over a wide area.
Yakanarra Song Book
This entrancing book captures what life is like for kids living in the remote Western Australian region. Two Elders, Mary Purnjurr Vanbee and Jessie Wamarla Moora, worked with the community to reproduce songs in Walmajarri. As teachers themselves, they worked with other people from Yakanarra, Kulkarriya and Wulungarra community schools during the 1980s and 1990s to encourage children to speak Walmajarri. Ten of the songs are in Walmajarri, the main language spoken in Yakanarra. The four songs in English were created by students at Yakanarra Community School in workshops with well-known author and illustrator Alison Lester and musician Chris Aitken. Students from Yakanarra Community School also produced the beautiful illustrations. The book, published in 2017, is one of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s Community Literacy Projects.
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For more information www.ilf.org.au • (02) 9280 0644 • [email protected] Great Book Swap Language Fact Sheet Yirrikipayi House Yirrikipayi in the Tiwi language translates as salt-water crocodile.
Significance of Animal
The salt-water crocodile is the largest living reptile and fiercest predator in the world. Indigenous people across the Top End of Australia have lived and hunted alongside crocodiles for thousands of years. Yirrikipayi (crocodile) is a significant animal to Tiwi people and culture. It’s one of many Tiwi dreamings or totems, which are inherited from the father, and with it come a set of responsibilities and a special dance - all taught and passed down from birth.
About the language
Tiwi is an Australian language spoken by approximately 2000 Tiwi people, most of who reside on the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin in the Northern Territory. According to the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger database, the state of the Tiwi language is vulnerable. Tiwi has evolved since European settlement, and there are now two variations of Tiwi spoken. Older speakers can speak Traditional or Hard Tiwi, which is also used in ceremonies, and the younger generation speak what is called Modern Tiwi. Tiwi is a stand alone language with no connection or relationship to languages on the mainland of Australia.
Classroom Activities Did you know? Using the AIATSIS Map in your resource kit, At the time of European settlement in can you find Tiwi country? 1788, over 250 languages with more than What other animals can you think of that we classify 700 dialects were spoken across Australia. as ‘predators’? Today, only about 80 of those languages are spoken, mainly by elders. Can you name some other famous fictional crocodiles? Fewer than 20 Indigenous languages How many languages are spoken by students are currently being learnt by Australian children in your classroom or at home?
Refer to the Teaching Notes for more information, classroom ideas and list of useful websites.
Visit our languages page for more great resources! www.ilf.or.au/languages Yirri kip a y i
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i ig Bigib la ar p m a
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About the Tiwi islands
The Tiwi Islands are made up of two large islands, Bathurst Island and Melville Island, and many smaller uninhabited islands. There are three main communities on the Tiwi Islands; Milikapiti, Pirlangimpi and Wurrumiyanga. Smaller communities include Paru, Wurankuwu (Ranku) and Pickertaramoor.
Milikapiti Community is situated on the northern coast of Melville Island. The 500 people that live in the community speak Tiwi as their first language. The local school, with an enrolment of around 80 children, is built only metres from the sea and overlooks a bay, which provided much of the inspiration for the publishing project No Way Yirrikipayi.
No Way Yirrikipayi
Yirrikipayi the crocodile lives on the Tiwi Islands and he’s hungry. He goes hunting, chasing animals in the sea and on land. What’s for dinner? Meet the animals and learn their Tiwi names in this delightful book for all ages.
This book was produced by students’ from Milikapiti School over two writing and illustrating workshops facilitated by ILF ambassador Alison Lester and with the support of Tiwi Elders and assistant teachers. This project is part of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s Community Literacy Projects.
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For more information www.ilf.org.au • (02) 9280 0644 • [email protected] Great Book Swap Language Fact Sheet Bigibigi House Bigibigi in Kriol language translates as pig
Significance of Animal
In some outback areas of the wet tropical region of the Northern Territory, pigs (an introduced species of mammal) can be found thriving in bushland and scrub. The feral pigs cause considerable environmental damage by digging in the soil and alongside creeks. They also prey on native animals and eat native plants. In some places, especially national parks, Aboriginal rangers attempt to control the feral pig population in order to protect and preserve traditional lands and resources. Many of these feral pigs are hunted, by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. It is possible to ‘rescue’ and domesticate feral piglets, especially those separated from their mothers, as the story of Moli det bigibigi (Molly the pig), which is based on real-life events, shows.
About the language
Kriol is spoken in Aboriginal communities across a large area of northern Australia, including most of the Katherine region, as well as the Kimberley of Western Australia and into the Gulf country of Queensland. It is the most widely-spoken Aboriginal language in Australia today by an estimated 20,000 people. Kriol is a real, full and vibrant language with speakers able to express anything that can be said in other languages. Kriol has also been used to translate Shakespeare and the Bible.
Kriol is a ‘new’ Aboriginal language with a special history, not an original traditional Aboriginal language. The roots of Kriol are in Aboriginal people’s contact history on cattle stations, missions and reserves, where speakers of different languages used particular ‘ways of talking’, for communicating together. Such ‘contact languages’ bridged across all the different language groups, including English. In some places, the contact language has become the language that everybody in the community speaks, so it isn’t just a bridge across languages any more. When contact languages become the first language of a whole generation, they are called ‘creoles’
Kriol, the language of the Moli det bigibigi story, is one kind of creole, the kind spoken in Binjari community. Kriol varies a bit from place to place and speakers can usually tell where other Kriol speakers come from, because of their accent or some different words.
Refer to the Teaching Notes for more information, classroom ideas and list of useful websites.
Visit our languages page for more great resources! www.ilf.or.au/languages Yirri kip a y i
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About the Binjari community
Binjari is about 20 kilometres (or 15 minutes drive by car) south-west of Katherine in the Northern Territory. The community is on land administered by the Binjari Community Aboriginal Corporation. Kriol is the first and dominant language spoken by Binjari community members. It is also the dominant language spoken in ten other communities in and around Katherine region. The original inhabitants of this region were the Jawoyn, Dagoman and Wardaman people, and the area around what is now the town of Katherine was an important meeting place. Today it is still a place where Aboriginal people – some from as far away as the Tanami Desert – come together.
Moli det bigibigi (Molly the pig)
Meet Moli the pig, watch her delightful antics and learn some words in Kriol from this lively book that kids will love. In the community where she lives, Moli is much-loved, but what she loves most is eating Weet Bix! This children’s picture book, based on real events, has been written in Kriol and English by Karen Manbulloo from the Binjari community near Katherine in the Northern Territory. It is one of nine books for children produced in a series of writing and illustrating workshops facilitated by linguist Denise Angelo, Julie Haysom and ILF staff with the support of the Binjari community and elders. Moli det bigibigi has been published as an ILF Community Literacy Project. Multiple copies of this and the other eight books written and illustrated by the Binjari women have been gifted to Kriol-speaking communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
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For more information www.ilf.org.au • (02) 9280 0644 • [email protected] Wamparla House
Great Book Swap Language Fact Sheet Wamparla House Wamparla is the Arabana word for possum
Significance of Animal
The possum is a small nocturnal mammal. In South Australia, there are five species of possum: common brushtail, common ringtail, western pygmy, eastern pygmy and little pygmy. The native habitat for possums is tall gum or box trees. In the past, possums were a traditional food for the Arabana people, who climbed the trees to take the possums from their hollows, and also killed possums on the ground with boomerangs and hunting sticks. The possum pelts were crafted into clothes so the Arabana people could stay warm during the cold inland winters. Over the years many native possum habitats have been reduced in size due to farming, urbanization and climate change, and in some places, like Arabana country, there are no possums anymore.
About the language
Traditionally associated with the western side of Kati Thanda (Lake Eyre) region, Arabana is considered a Lakes language and shares features with other Lakes languages. With only a handful of native speakers, the language is at risk and much work is being done to document and revive the language. During the last three years, numerous language learning workshops have been held in Port Augusta and Adelaide. A Language Camp was held on country in 2018 with many short films being made that record the stories, language and places visited. Alongside our publication Wamparla Apira, one children’s book has been published with several more in the stages of being developed.
Did you know? Classroom Activities At the time of European settlement in 1788, Using the AIATSIS Map in your resource over 250 languages with more than 700 dialects were spoken across Australia. kit, can you find Arabana country?
Today, only about 80 of those languages are What other animals can you think of spoken, mainly by elders. that we use to make clothing?
Fewer than 20 Indigenous languages Can you name some other famous are currently being learnt by fictional possums? Australian children
Refer to the Teaching Notes for more information, classroom ideas and list of useful websites.
Visit our languages page for more great resources! www.ilf.or.au/languages Yirri kip a y i
L u ng kura
i ig Bigib la ar p m a
W
About Arabana country
Arabana country lies in the Kati Thanda (Western Lake Eyre) region in the central north of South Australia. The Arabana people hold native title to more than 68,000 square kilometres of this country, which includes the towns of Marree in the south-east and Oodnadatta in the north-west, as well as Lake Eyre and the Wabma Kadarbu Monnd Springs Conservation Park. The Arabana Aboriginal Corporation administers these lands and waters on behalf of the Arabana people. These days, most Arabana people live off-country in widespread urban centres like Adelaide, Port Augusta, Coober Pedy, Oodnadatta, Alice Springs and Darwin although many visit as often as possible.
Wamparla Apira (Possums and Tall Trees)
This story tells of the time when the Arabana people hunted possums for food and clothing. Sometimes they climbed very tall trees to take the possums from their hollows. But in some places the possums were sacred and could not be killed. This story is retold in Arabana and English by elder Thanti Syd Strangways. The beautiful illustrations are by Kathy Arbon. The book is one of the Community Literacy Projects published by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in 2018. It has been gifted to Arabana people and families to share and enjoy. Kids of all ages can learn more about possums and their native habitat, and also become familiar with some Arabana words.
SPECIAL DISCOUNT! See the merchandise form included in your kit to claim your special discount today!
For more information www.ilf.org.au • (02) 9280 0644 • [email protected]