In mid-March, Muurrbay arranged two Darkinyung Language workshops in Wyong and Kariong to bring together everyone interested in being involved in the revitalisation of the language.
We were welcomed in Darkinyung by Aunty Bronwyn Chambers and Gary Williams did an acknowledgement of country in Gumbaynggirr.
This was an opportunity for the community to meet our new teacher linguist, Albert Burgman and to hear from them about what they wanted for their language. Meetings included lots of healthy discussion, and people voiced a strong need for community language classes for adults. As well there was an update on Muurrbay’s activities and a sample lesson in the language where people learnt some useful Darkinyung expressions like ‘Stand up’ ‘Sit down’ and ‘Come here!’ and a few basic words.
Since then an Advisory Group has been formed to guide Albert’s work and they have met to set some guidelines. We hope to see some Darkinyung language classes for the community in the near future!
muurrbay
Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative