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Don't miss out on the headlines from Bush Summit. Followed categories will be added to My News. It was only 20 years ago that the Gamilaraay language was on the cusp of extinction – simply another one of some 600 Indigenous dialects destined for oblivion through waning numbers of proficient speakers. Back then, only a handful of those who remembered the Gamilaraay tongue were keeping it alive – in 2006 it was recorded there were just 35 speakers – but fast forward to 2025 and the year 7 class at Coonabarabran High School are breathing life into an ancient language that once dominated the local airwaves. Craig Ashby is the school's Indigenous language teacher – a linguistic expert who originally hailed from Walgett some 230km away – a big man with an even bigger heart whose passion and enthusiasm has captured the attention and imagination of the school's students. RELATED: What you need to know ahead of Bush Summit 2025 Ashby has taught languages at some of Sydney's most prestigious schools before deciding to leave the big smoke to return to the bush and impart his knowledge of the traditional, local language with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students here at Coonabarabran High. The high school has also seen a record number of Indigenous students completing their HSC thanks to various programs like dance and compulsory Gamillaroi language studies. Picture: Toby Zerna Media. It's his approach to teach through traditional linguistics methods that has brought to life an almost forgotten and surprisingly complex language, and the students are tackling the challenge as though they are on an adventure to decode an ancient mystery. While the language is still technically regarded as endangered, it is astonishing to learn just how many Gamilaraay words have crept into everyday Australian English. Bindii-eye, galah, budgerigar, brolga – all come from this ancient, northwestern New South Wales Aboriginal dialect. As with any language, understanding the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of Gamilaraay is not easy, and two students grapple with grammar and syntax on the interactive whiteboard under their teacher's watchful eye. 'Ah!' Ashby exclaims, 'I've picked up on a mistake – We've attached the future-tense verb straight away – and we don't need to do that … the word 'burama' becomes 'burama ngau'.' School principal Duncan Graham is standing at the back of the classroom beaming at the students' raw enthusiasm and engagement. 'It's magic,' he says of Ashby's dynamic teaching style, dumbing nothing down and instead elevating the lesson. Coonabarabran High School students Lakiah Chatfield (Yr11), Tyler Rogers (Yr11), Britany Andrews (Yr11) and Sharmyra Gall (Yr12). Picture: Toby Zerna Media. 'You pitch high and they'll meet you. What they're learning is university stuff.' And this is what the school principal is aiming for – Indigenous students excelling academically to achieve the completion of their Higher School Certificate, a qualification one year 11 student tells me she will be the first in her family to have ever done so. But academic achievement will not be at the expense of these students losing their cultural identity, as the school's Aboriginal education teacher Alison Stanton tells me. Like so many locals, Alison can trace her ancestry back to the Indigenous folkloric hero Mary Jane Cain (1844-1929), an Aboriginal woman who single-handedly secured a parcel of land in Coonabarabran granted by Queen Victoria, becoming the much-loved matriarch of the Aboriginal community and earning the title 'Queenie Cain'. Coonabarabran High School has a strong Indigenous girls program including dance and compulsory Gamillaroi language studies for all students to take part in. Picture: Toby Zerna Media. In her later years, Queenie Cain recorded her life history and included a list of Gamilaraay words which has served to preserve what was until then oral history. Alison is more than proud of her connection making it clear to me so I can understand and appreciate her history: 'Queenie Cain was my grandmother's grandmother.'
