Latest news with #LanguageRevitalization
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
'The sky's the limit': Re-awakening Indigenous languages that have been 'actively suppressed'
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains images and voices of people who have died. Mikayla Helms remembers driving 1,000 kilometres during school holidays to outback New South Wales, where she'd listen to her grandmother tell dreaming stories and call for the rain to come. Raised as a proud Ngiyampaa woman, the Canberra student always treasured her time spent on country in Menindee, in the far west of New South Wales. But it was only when she began a Year 12 school project that she realised she wanted to learn her great-grandmother Aunty Beryl Carmichael's language. "It was quite new to me, I've always been very in touch with my Aboriginal culture but never specifically … my mob," Ms Helms said. For her project, she started making an online dictionary of the Ngiyampaa — a language without any fluent speakers. Two years later, the medical science student is part of a growing number of people working to re-awaken "silenced" First Nations languages. And experts think, when it comes to revitalising languages, there's been a turning of the tide. Ms Helms's learning journey has been helped along by the treasure trove of stories, books and language recordings left behind when Aunty Beryl died in 2024. "It is very special for me and I do feel like I'm keeping her alive," Ms Helms said. "Right now I'm focusing on documenting everything from my nan and her memories. "[I have] a book that she wrote in 1986 and most of the book is just her poetry and stories that she's written, but at the end she's got a bunch of Ngiyampaa words that she's documented." The process has also inspired Ms Helms to help others, like Aunty Beryl did. "She was one of the most important people in my life and she still is … I hope to have as much of an impact on community as she did," she said. "I would like to be a rural doctor and go out to remote communities. Ms Helms's work is crucial because, like many other First Nations languages, the Ngiyampaa dialects are considered under threat. In fact, Australia has one of the highest rates of language loss in the world. At the time of colonisation, there were more than 250 First Nations languages spoken throughout Australia. Since then, more than half of these languages have been "silenced", and about one quarter are only spoken by Elders, according to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATIS). Just 12 languages are considered relatively strong, and spoken as a first language. "Languages weren't lost, they didn't just disappear out of view — they've been actively suppressed," AITSIS Centre for Australian Languages director Lauren Reed said. Ms Reed said First Nations communities were still being prevented from using their languages through past policies like the Stolen Generation, and due to limited access to translation services. But a positive shift in the number of communities engaging in language learning has experts hopeful the numbers could be turned around. An AIATSIS survey, released later this year, found as many as 60 languages have been "reawakened" over the past five years — previously, that number sat at 31. "Communities are working really hard to bring their languages back into use after generations of being silenced," Ms Reed said. For example, Indigenous languages are being taught in a growing number of pre-schools across the country. In Coffs Harbour, on the NSW mid-north coast, you'll find the state's first bi-lingual school with an Indigenous language, Gumbaynggirr. And in NSW's Central West, the Wiradjuri Condobolin Corporation have produced games, books and a dictionary app in Wiradjuri, Yorta Yorta, Nari Nari and Wamba Wamba languages. "With the right amount of support, with community drive, the sky's the limit for Indigenous communities in terms of reawakening their languages," Ms Reed said. Like Ms Helms, Ngyiampaa woman Lesley Woods is committed to strengthening the Ngiyampaa dialect. She has a linguistics PhD on revitalising languages, and is completing an accessible Ngiyampaa dictionary, relying heavily on old recordings and documentation. "My goal is to get as much spoken language out there from those old recordings, so people can hear the language," Dr Woods said. Dr Woods said individual efforts to learn language, like Ms Helms is doing, were an important means to reconnect with culture and country. "Whatever people can do and in whatever way they want to do it is brilliant and to be applauded," she said. "Undertaking to learn a language … is a lot of hard work." She's hopeful these efforts mean that one day, Ngiyampaa will join the list of languages being learnt back into fluency. "That blows my mind, that you can go from just having a few old speakers to lots of people learning to speak again," Dr Woods said.
CTV News
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Manitoba Museum launches Indigenous language game
The Manitoba Museum has launched an Indigenous language game to support early learners of the Anishinaabe language. The interactive language game, Anishinaabemowin with Amik, is available on the museum's website and focuses on animal names that are native to Manitoba and found throughout the museum galleries. 'It's just basically to support learning and language revitalization of Anishinaabemowin, the Anishinaabe language,' said Tashina Houle-Gaywish, head of Indigenous programming and engagement at the Manitoba Museum. The game features memory and matching challenges and incorporates the Manitoba dialect of Anishinaabemowin. 'It's always been the museum's effort, especially in the last decade, to include indigenous languages in our galleries and exhibits. So, my team and I wanted to take it a step further and have indigenous languages on our website.' Houle-Gaywish said the game is primarily geared toward children, adding that it can be played anywhere online — and not exclusively on museum grounds. She said the game will be 'especially beneficial' for teachers to use in pre-visit programming, with upwards of 90,000 students attending the museum annually. 'We're slowly making little improvements, and eventually we're going to expand to more words and phrases and other Indigenous languages,' said Houle-Gaywish. Funding for the initiative was made possible through the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation.
RNZ News
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
'Toitū te reo': All welcome as national Māori language festival returns
Tame Iti speaks to a packed out crowd at Toitū Te Reo 2024. Photo: Supplied / Toitū Te Reo Organisers of Aotearoa's national Māori language festival want people of all ages and ethnicities to "toitū te reo" - to uphold the language - as the kaupapa returns for its second year. Toitū Te Reo, described as a two-day "celebration, inspiration, education, and activation of the language and culture", will take place in Heretaunga Hastings on November 13-14. Festival founder and director Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod (Ngāti Kahungunu) said the kaupapa, born out of a desire to uplift te mana o te reo Māori. was shaped by growing pressure on the language in recent years. "It was morphed into a festival during the time where the language was under attack from left, right and centre," he told RNZ. "And it was a response to that, but it was a positive response. It was, how we can unite the country and bring people together, but also bring ourselves together as Māori." Toitū Te Reo is the evolution of Te Reo ki Tua, a revitalisation symposium hosted in the heart of Ngāti Kahungunu. "It's a street festival. It's unapologetically Māori, yet incredibly accessible to non-speakers," MacLeod said. "We want young, old, locals, visitors, and those from every ethnicity to come along and have a go at te reo Māori." Toitū Te Reo - Aotearoa's national Māori language festival- director and founder Dr Jeremy Tātere MacLeod says the kaupapa is a "transformative bicultural opportunity for everyone." Photo: Supplied / Toitū Te Reo Organisers said the festival welcomed about 10,000 people last year , from reo champions to absolute beginners. Despite receiving funding in 2024 from the previous government, this year's kaupapa will go on without it. "It's a different climate," MacLeod said. "We were lucky last year with some residual funding from the former government, but that funding is not available under the current government. "So it means we've had to work extra hard to find people to support what I still believe is a transformative, groundbreaking initiative." He said the shift has only deepened the resolve of the organising team, but it raised questions about who was responsible for backing the language. "My challenge to us as Māori, with regards to mana motuhake - if we really believe in our language and we want to invest in a national forum that uplifts but also inspires a lot of language activists across the country - then support it. Instead of us being booted like a political football between central government back to iwi and vice versa." "If we keep harping on about how important the language is, then we need to commit to it and show some leadership… Stop talking about the language and commit to uplifting it." Photo: Supplied / Toitū Te Reo Toitū Te Reo will be host to a variety of kaupapa, including kapa haka performances, wānanga, symposiums, kai, toi Māori, and live podcast recordings, all designed to meet people wherever they are on their reo journey. "There's no other forum in the country that brings this many people together purely for the language revitalisation plight," MacLeod told RNZ. "It brings together some of the country's most recognised exponents, but also grassroots language champions, not necessarily people who sit in academic institutions… It brings together a fantastic mix, as well as non-Māori who have committed their lives to the re-emphasis of the language." MacLeod said regardless of where you sit on the language proficiency spectrum, "everyone requires a bit of inspiration". "We require a bit of activation. We require a little bit more education and an opportunity to celebrate and connect." MacLeod speaks from personal experience. He grew up in Brisbane with parents who were part of the generations who lost their language. "I remember very well how hard it is to acquire te reo Māori," he said. "And I still have vivid memories of what that was like. It's not easy." That's part of why accessibility is a core focus of Toitū Te Reo, he said. "We've tried to make it as welcoming as possible," "Even if you're fluent or if you're in the middle, there's dedicated symposium areas and lots of different presenters, panels to cater for everyone. But even the most fluent need to do some work to maintain their reo." Photo: Supplied / Toitū Te Reo While the scale of the festival will be slightly smaller this year, MacLeod said Toitū Te Reo is about national reach, but from a provincial base. "National kaupapa don't just belong in Wellington and Auckland. They can be hosted in provinces too. "When Ngāti Kahungunu established the National Māori Language Revitalisation Symposium, it had a domino effect, several tribes went on to establish their own. And I feel that'll be the case with Toitū Te Reo in time. Why can't we have several celebrations of the language and culture around the country?" With the kaupapa taking place in four months time, MacLeod is hoping for an even bigger turnout than last year. "Toitū Te Reo will inspire you. It will educate you. It will entertain you. It will activate you. It will strengthen you," he said. "And it will provide a platform for thousands to come together and celebrate the language that is quite often attacked from all quarters of this country." Toitū Te Reo 2025 will take place in Heretaunga Hastings CBD on 13-14 November. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Sky News
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Target to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050 has been set - but how likely is it?
Wales's government has set the aim of having one million Welsh speakers by 2050 - along with a doubling of the daily use of the language by then - but is that target achievable? Figures from the latest census in 2021 showed a fall in the number of people who could speak Welsh compared to a decade earlier. An estimated 538,000 people in Wales - or 17.8% of the population - said they could speak Welsh, compared to 562,000 in 2011 (or 19% of the population). Some efforts to increase the prominence of the language in recent years, including the Brecon Beacons National Park's decision to refer to itself only by its Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog, have faced criticism from some quarters. But a YouGov poll of more than 1,300 Welsh people earlier this year found two-thirds (67%) were in favour of efforts to increase the use of the Welsh language, compared to a fifth (20%) who were against. Efa Gruffudd Jones, the commissioner tasked with promoting the use of the language, published her manifesto for next year's Senedd election on Friday. She told Sky News the Welsh language's position had "stayed fairly constant over the last 20 years". "If we really want to change anything going forward, we need to change some of the things that we do," she said. "[Targets] are inspirational, they can inspire people to do more. But, on its own, setting a target doesn't mean that you achieve it. "So I really think we need to think hard about how we increase the numbers of Welsh speakers and how we ensure that more people can use it in their daily lives." Reform UK's leader Nigel Farage told ITV Wales last month that he would scrap the target if the party forms the next Welsh government. In her manifesto, Ms Gruffudd Jones has five key proposals for the next Welsh government as people in Wales prepare to head to the polls in May next year. They include increased use of the language in workplaces, more public services available in Welsh and mandatory Welsh language training for newly-qualified teachers, with the commissioner insisting such a move would not "alienate" potential new recruits to the profession. "It's about creating the opportunity for everyone who wants to come into the workforce to be able to develop their skills and to be able to make sure that every child who wants Welsh-medium education in Wales [is able] to receive it," she said. At Welsh-medium secondary schools, at least 60% of learners have a minimum of 70% of their lessons in Welsh, according to Welsh government criteria. And at Welsh-medium primary schools, at least 80% of pupils' school activities will be in Welsh from the age of seven onwards. 'Nothing to be afraid of' The Welsh language commissioner published a report last month which found young people's use of the language socially, including on social media, was "limited". Gwynedd Council, in northwest Wales, has outlined plans to make Welsh the "principal language" of education across the county, in an effort to boost the number of people who leave school speaking the language. The proposals, which are subject to public consultation over the coming months, are set to "remove bilingualism and bilingual teaching" from its schools' policy. But Councillor Dewi Jones, the cabinet member for education on Gwynedd Council, has insisted English-medium education "is not being phased out". He told Sky News that pupils moving to Gwynedd from outside of Wales would be given support with their Welsh through the county's language immersion units. "There's nothing to be afraid of here, I'm completely confident that any latecomers to the county will be able to fully integrate and become fully bilingual," Cllr Jones added. He said the council was "very proud" to have a "very high number of Welsh speakers" in the area, "especially among young people". "But we're ambitious to go beyond that and ensure that all young people in Gwynedd are fully bilingual so that they have the benefits of both the Welsh language and the English language," he said. 'Academic language' In Ysgol Cwm Rhymni, a Welsh-medium secondary school in Caerphilly, Year 12 students have just finished their exams and are starting to think about the next steps after school. Mili, who speaks Welsh at home with her family, said the language was an "integral part" of her life. "For many students, their parents don't speak Welsh, so they don't hear Welsh on a more social level, it's more of an academic language for them," she told Sky News. Another student Megan said there were "a lot of people" who wanted to use Welsh outside of school but there were "a lack of things for them to be able to use Welsh". "People would be willing to speak Welsh if there are things there to allow them to speak the language once they've learned it," she added. Student Ben said there was a "lack of places where you can speak Welsh in the south that aren't schools or festivals". Meanwhile, fellow student Maisie said there were already "a lot of opportunities" to use Welsh outside of school, such as in Welsh-speaking groups, but they weren't "advertised" enough. On the streets of Cardiff Bay, opinions were mixed over the target to reach a million Welsh speakers by 2050. "I think we could [reach it] because there are a lot of Welsh schools now, and all the schools are learning to speak Welsh," one woman said. "I don't know if you will get to a million, but I certainly would aim for that, as close to that as you can," another added. One man said it was unrealistic as Cardiff was "not a Welsh-speaking capital" but that the language was spoken more widely in other areas. What do the political parties say? Plaid Cymru's Welsh language spokesperson Heledd Fychan said the party has "a range of progressive and radical policies" on the Welsh language and that Wales needed "a government that is willing to act". Tom Giffard, the Welsh Conservatives' shadow Welsh language secretary, said "neither language should be squeezed out of any area" and it must be ensured that "additional bureaucratic strain is not placed on the health or education services". Jane Dodds, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said the party supports the vision to "expand the use of Welsh across public services, workplaces, and education" but that the proposals should be delivered in a way that is "fair" and "inclusive".
CBC
13-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., teacher and leader celebrated with new Canada Post stamp
Julia Haogak Ogina will soon be travelling the country, all from her home in North. Ogina, an Indigenous teacher and elder born in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., is being honoured with her own stamp. Canada Post unveiled the stamp Friday in Ulukhaktok as part of a series honouring Indigenous leaders across Canada. Ogina's stamp, along with two others, will be issued June 20, the day before National Indigenous Peoples Day. Ogina, born in 1962, has been a champion of preserving ancestral knowledge, particularly through drum dance. In 2006, she became the programs coordinator of elders, language and culture for the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, emphasizing the importance of oral learning in communities. In 2017, she helped publish Huqqullaarutit Unipkaangit — Stories Told Through Drum-Dance Songs — a project to preserve the Kitikmeot's dialects, including Inuinnaqtun. Ogina also received an outstanding achievement award in 2017 from the Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit in language revitalization.
