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Useful resources relating to Aboriginal language revitalisation

State Library's language resources

The Library hold an extensive Indigenous languages collection. The Rediscovering Indigenous Languages project aimed to make accessible some of the oldest languages in the world by locating, digitising and providing access to Indigenous word lists, language records and other cultural documents. Some items in the Library’s collections are the only known surviving records of these particular Indigenous languages and they can be vital resources in assisting Indigenous communities, linguists and teachers in language revival. Visit the project website to access the archival documentation of Indigenous languages. 

Additional resources for teachers

The following list of resources is for background reading for teachers. Some of the resources will be suitable for your students too, e.g. links to video clips of children across NSW who are learning Aboriginal languages. The resources are grouped according to languages represented on the NSW State Library My Weekend with Pop – stories in Aboriginal Languages website, and the list starts with some maps and general information about keeping languages strong throughout Australia. Some of the resources in the list are books which may only be available through specialised libraries. Some are more easily accessible. Teachers do not need to read all of these books to be able to implement the Stage 2 teaching and learning activities suggested in this guide.

Maps and keeping languages strong

Bundjalung

  • ABC Open. (2016). A conversation in Bundjalung. https://open.abc.net.au/explore/139619
  • ABC Open. (2016). Aboriginal language detectives. https://open.abc.net.au/explore/138717
  • ABC Open. (2014). Sharing Bundjalung mother tongue. https://open.abc.net.au/explore/74602
  • ABC Open. (2014). Sharing Bundjalaung language through photographs. https://open.abc.net.au/explore/74677
  • Sharpe, Margaret. (2001). An introduction to the Yugambeh-Bundjalung language and its dialects. An introduction to the Yugambeh-Bundjalung language and its dialects. Revised (3rd) edition with chapters by Marjorie Oaks, Terry Crowley and Jill Fraser-Knowles. Armidale, NSW: University of New England.
  • Sharpe, Margaret. (2005). Grammar and texts of the Yugambeh-Bundjalung dialect chain in Eastern Australia (Vol. 370). Munich, Germany: Lincom.
  • Sharpe, Margaret. (2002). Dictionary of coastal Bundjalung including Bundjalung, Wiyabal, Minyangbal and Ngahnduwal: Unpublished manuscript.
  • Sharpe, Margaret. (1995). Dictionary of Western Bundjalung, including, Gidhabal and Tabulam Bundjalung. Armidale: M. Sharpe.

Dharawal and Dhurga

Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay

Gumbaynggirr

Paakantyi

Wiradjuri