Light is fading for indigenous languages (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

*Light is fading for indigenous languages*

September 23, 2012
AUS

IN DECEMBER 1992 the Keating government launched 50 dictionaries of
Aboriginal languages.

A year in the making, the dictionaries were an attempt to preserve 100 or
so remaining languages native to Australia. Once there had been 200.

Robert Tickner, the minister responsible, described the languages, with
their wide regional variances, as ''precious national treasures'' that must
be saved from extinction.

As with so many government initiatives on behalf of the Aboriginal
community, it was an admirable exercise with results that didn't live up to
the exuberant initial hopes.

Now, almost 20 years later, indigenous languages - in NSW at least - are in
a weaker state than when Tickner spoke and, in some cases, critically
endangered.

Access full article below:
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/light-is-fading-for-indigenous-languages-20120922-26dik.html#ixzz27DPoq6gr
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