Ngapartji Ngapartji policy paper

[Margaret Florey]

Dear RNLDers,

Ngapartji Ngapartji has launched a policy paper regarding Indigenous
languages. The PDF can be downloaded from their web site at
<http://www.ngapartji.org/content/view/19/79/>. (Thanks to Jane Simpson
for bringing this to our attention via the Transient Languages blog
<http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/elac/>)

The Ngapartji Ngapartji announcement gives the following overview:

Languages transmit complex understandings of a person’s culture,
identities and connections with country. They are a source of pride and
strength. In Australia languages carry with them an intimate
understanding of the ecological systems and the land with which they are
associated. Before European invasion Australia was home to over 250
distinct languages. Indigenous people were typically multilingual and
were likely to speak as many as half a dozen languages in addition to
their own. Tragically, in the last 218 years Australia has suffered the
largest and most rapid loss of languages known.

Today, only 17 languages are spoken ‘right through’ and transmitted
between older and younger generations; approximately 100 are still alive
but are highly endangered, perhaps claiming only a handful of older
speakers each; the remainder are either no longer used or remain active
as strong markers of country and identity in local Aboriginal Englishes.
All face uncertain futures and require ongoing action and support.

“Indigenous activists argue that if our languages were like animals
under threat of extinction there would be global outcry” - Lester
Irabinna Rigney (FATSIL Newsletter, March 2002, p. 9).

A number of Australian languages which were critically endangered have
been brought back to life and the rates of decline of other languages
have been slowed. In Adelaide, the main language group is Kaurna
(pronounced Garna). Kaurna was considered a dead, or ‘sleeping’,
language, and is now used increasingly by more people in the Kaurna and
school community in particular. Broader awareness of the language,
particularly through policies of dual, Kaurna-English place-naming, has
been significantly increased in the non-Indigenous community. With a mix
of community involvement and strategic government and other support,
Indigenous Australians can continue to reclaim their languages and with
them, cultural and ecological knowledge of value to all Australians.  

In New Zealand, the Indigenous Maori language was recognised legally in
1986 and was followed by the establishment of a Maori Language
Commission which inputs to government policy. The 1990 New Zealand Bill
of Rights affirmed Indigenous rights to language. The USA has a
legislated Native American Languages Act (1990), a federal policy
statement recognising the language rights of American Indians, Alaska
Natives, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders; it was enacted by the
101st Congress.

The situation in Australia differs from that of New Zealand due to a
vastly larger number of distinct, regionally-based Indigenous languages;
there is no legislated recognition of languages and questions about
rights and national responsibilities remain. There is no peak national
body to advise on Indigenous language policy and no declared national
policy. Indigenous languages remain adrift in Australia in a sea of
uncoordinated interactions with state and federal jurisdictions and a
lack of overall strategic planning. Despite significant developments in
the late 1980s and early 1990s at a national policy level, NSW and the
Northern Territory alone currently have comprehensive Indigenous
languages policies and Victoria is developing one.

If you would like to comment on this document, please email Melanie
Gillbank at the Ngapartji Ngapartji project on <gillbank_m at yahoo.com.au
> or contact Alex Kelly, Creative Producer of Ngapartji Ngapartji on
<alex at ngapartji.org> and 08 8953 5463

kind regards,
Margaret Florey


-- 
Dr Margaret Florey
Senior Lecturer
Linguistics Program
School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
Monash University
Victoria 3800
Australia
Tel: +61 (0)3 9905-2237
Fax: +61 (0)3 9905-5437
Email: Margaret.Florey at arts.monash.edu.au
Home page: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/linguistics/staff/mflorey.php

Studies in Language Endangerment at Monash University
Web Site: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/linguistics/pglangen/index.php

Endangered Maluku Languages Project
Email: Maluku at arts.monash.edu.au
Fax: +61 (0)3 9905-8492
Web Site: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/linguistics/maluku/index.php