Language lost and regained (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

Language lost and regained

   - STEPHEN ATKINSON
   - THE AUSTRALIAN <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/>
   - SEPTEMBER 20, 2013 12:02PM

*AS A child living in the Bush around Iron Knob, Whyalla and Port Augusta
in South Australia my mother ran through the sandhills playing and talking
with her brothers and sisters in their native Barngarla tongue. Life seemed
to be happy and free.*

Many of these times, however, weren't always pleasant as they were running
from the Big Black Car of the Welfare, coming to take the children away
from their family and their home. Mum tells me how she used to gather her
younger siblings together and hide them as best she could. This continued
for some years until she was 8 years of age when they were caught off guard
and separated and taken to mission homes in Port Augusta and Adelaide. They
still had their language but no longer had the support and guidance of
family to continue to be instructed and to learn their language and culture
from their elders.
Access full article below:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/opinion/language-lost-and-regained/story-e6frgcko-1226723462161#sthash.6nKHafit.dpuf
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ilat/attachments/20130930/24678968/attachment.htm>