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Languages

From capping rent to burying the dead, Cape Barren Island governs itself

Twenty years ago, Cape Barren Island was handed back to its traditional owners. Today's children are proof of the life-changing power of that act.
A young girl walks across granite rocks covered in orange algae by the beach.

Word Up: Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves

This week Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves shares a Warlpiri word that encompasses the creation stories, the ancestral beings, the lore, the land and  everything that connects Warlpiri people to country and to each other across time.
Word Up
Duration: 2 minutes 55 seconds

Game designed to save dying Aboriginal language wins global awards

With only eight fluent Nyiyaparli speakers remaining, an Aboriginal group is racing against time to save its 41,000-year-old language.
A man and young boy (right) hold coloured cards, the boy holds a green one to the camera and looks at the lens.

How Aunty Rhonda learnt to cry

Artist, author and Stolen Generations survivor, Rhonda Collard-Spratt, on bush hugs, beehives, emu bumps, and finding peace.
A black and white portrait of Aunty Rhonda, holding her guitar.
Duration: 51 minutes 12 seconds

Word Up: Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves

This week, Ned Jampijimpa Hargraves discusses a Warlpiri word connected to the cultural law that keeps him focused.
Word Up
Duration: 3 minutes 14 seconds

Word Up: Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves

Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves shares the Warlpiri word for home. 
Word Up
Duration: 4 minutes 20 seconds

Presenter's creative idea to bring Indigenous language on screen with him

Every week ABC Behind the News presenter Jack Evans designs a T-shirt featuring a word from his mob's language and shares it with the show's audience. 
A man stands behind a presenting desk wearing a purple T-shirt with a white boots design.

Word Up: Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves

Meet Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, a Warlpiri advocate from Yuendumu sharing the language of peace: 'ceasefire - no guns'.
Word Up
Duration: 2 minutes 19 seconds

Word Up: Gari Tudor-Smith

Gari Tudor-Smith shares the Gangulu name for 'catfish'.
Word Up
Duration: 4 minutes 49 seconds

How surf lessons helped Indigenous teenagers find a connection to country

It started with a surf lesson, but these these Indigenous teens found something far deeper in the ocean.
Wide shot of men and boys on rocks carrying surfboard down to the beach, one surfboard has Aboriginal flag painted on it
Duration: 6 minutes 27 seconds

'Daughter's promise' inspires Darkinyung dictionary to revive sleepy language

With the help of a linguist and her community, Aunty Bronwyn Chambers has revitalised a sleepy language.
Man on the left with white paint on forehead , older woman. Man wears brown, white Aboriginal print shirt, beach , sea behind.

Changing Australia: Daryn McKenny and Callum Clayton-Dixon on saving Indigenous languages

At one point in history, Australia was home to more than 250 languages and some 800 dialects. Colonisation and cultural suppression have seen most of those languages become endangered — or lost altogether.
Duration: 13 minutes 23 seconds

Word Up: Gari Tudor-Smith

Gari Tudor-Smith explains the importance of listening carefully and closely, and notice how the familiar stories and words deepen in meaning over time.
Word Up

Word Up: Gari Tudor-Smith

Gari Tudor-Smith contemplates the different personalities and stories of birds on Gangulu Country.
Word Up
Duration: 4 minutes 49 seconds

How healing Country can heal us all

Yurlu | Country's director Yaara Bou Melhem and Banjima Traditional Owner Janelle Parker, share how they made a film about environmental devastation that's ultimately about love, resilience, and hope.
An Aboriginal elder wears a plastic hazmat suit and gas mask.
Duration: 54 minutes 6 seconds
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