Cultural Awareness

Q10. After all the millions of dollars spent on Aboriginal health and education why haven’t the problems facing Indigenous people today been solved? Q11. Aren’t Aboriginal languages very basic, with no real grammar system? Q.12. Weren’t Aborginal people just hunter gatherers, wandering around to find food?

Q7. “I know that a lot of really terrible things happened, but how many times do we have to say sorry to Aboriginal people?”. Q.8 “What advice would you give to a mainstream teacher who is working with English second language people like Yolngu? ” Part 1 Q.9 “What advice would you give to a mainstream teacher who is working with English second language people like Yolngu? ” Part 2

Q4. How did Aboriginal people use fire to look after the land? Q.5 Are traditional methods and knowledge being passed on from Aboriginal Elders to young people? Q6. What are Aboriginal community values and how do they differ from mainstream values?

Welcome to our first three Q&A videos!    Q1. Richard addresses a statement that is heard frequently. “Aboriginal people were so primitive they didn’t even invent the wheel”.         Q.2 There are lots of skill-based programs rolled…

Yolngu Matha is the official name given by linguists for the languages of the Yolngu (Yolŋu), the indigenous people of northeast Arnhem Land in northern Australia. Listed below are the definitions of a number of important academic Yolŋu Matha terms,…

  This speech was delivered to Warramiri Cosmology Conference at Charles Darwin University by Dianne Biritjalawuy Gondarra on 21st February 2019. It was translated into English by Richard Trudgen Image by Wayne Quilliam **           Thank…

As a number of Yolŋu watched Adam Goodes perform his "war cry" or "haka" on TV after he kicked the goal, they were excited because it was great for their culture to be represented there on the big screen. “Here in Arnhem Land in the NT we call what Adam performed ‘balyunmirr’."

If you want to learn an Aboriginal Language it’s best to find an existing resource for the language group and region you want to work with. It’s very important to do your own homework rather then just going to find a…

This is a short video exploring the confusion between the knowledge systems and worldview of Yolŋu culture and the dominant culture of mainstream Australia, and the devastating impacts this confusion has on Yolŋu people. Dharaŋanawuy – a Yolŋu word meaning…

“I call you ŋäṉḏi, you call me waku. I am your daughter.” That was the moment when I stepped into the intricately beautiful kinship system of the Yolŋu people of North East Arnhem Land. Eight years on and I am…

Learning an Aboriginal language has so many advantages that you could write a book about it. Sadly, because of the way the dominant culture views Aboriginal languages, many of them are dying out and we are losing powerful academic concepts…

                  This week is NAIDOC Week and this year’s theme is focused on the 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Yirrkala Bark Petition. It is a good time to remember the…