In writing this blog I pay my respects to the Elders
past and present and the emerging leaders of the future. I recognise and
acknowledge the Gumbaynggirr people upon whose land I reside, who have cared
for and been the guardians of the lands, rivers, mountains, and ocean for
thousands of generations.
The importance of ancestral language is crucial to the
wellbeing of whole cultures, to individuals, and to all aspects of human
endeavour. Yet, to European colonisers this was not recognised, with many
indigenous languages throughout the world having been outlawed, decimated, and
often exterminated. The dominant culture of the country I now live in
(Australia,) and that of the land of my birth (Aotearoa/New Zealand,) introduced
the English language and made that the official language of each
country. As a boy growing up in Aotearoa I recall being told by teachers,
family members, and officials, that Māori (the indigenous people, and language,
of Aotearoa) was dying out, and that it was pointless learning the language because
it would have no relevance in the coming years.
Coincidentally, wherever in the world the colonising
powers dismantled the indigenous language the health of the First Nations peoples
inevitably suffered. Still, today the health of indigenous peoples, whether in
North America, Australia, Aotearoa, or the Pacific Islands, lags well behind
that of non-indigenous residents of those same countries.
Language Revitalisation
Beginning in the second half of the 20th
century many indigenous languages began to be revitalised. The Welsh example is
commonly referenced.
As far back as 1563, the Act of Union under Henry
VIII saw Wales governed solely by English law and the use of the Welsh language
in courts and other government offices banned. By 1961 only one-in-four Welsh
people could converse in the Welsh language, although some pockets of high
numbers of speakers did remain.
From 1925 onwards though, a number of events took
place that led to todays’ significant revival of the language. The Welsh
political party (Plaid Cymru) was founded in 1925 with the promotion of the
Welsh language being its primary focus. In 1936 the British government attempted
to set up a RAF training camp at Penyberth. The locals were incensed, and the
resulting protest became known as Tân yn Llŷn (Fire in Llŷn) after the peninsular on
which the camp was to be cited. One of the protesters wrote that the British
government intended turning ‘essential homes of Welsh culture, idiom, and literature" into a place for promoting a barbaric
method of warfare.’
Three
decades later the flooding of the Tryweryn valley to create a reservoir to
supply Liverpool created tensions around forced removal of locals and the
destruction of the valley. Graffiti proclaiming Cofiwch
Dryweryn ('Remember Tryweryn') could be seen
in many surrounding locations – always written in the Welsh language. These
events, and others, kept alive local aspirations to retain language and
culture. In 2011 the Welsh language was granted official status for the first
time in four and a half centuries. Notwithstanding this, concerns around its
health remain, with possibly less than 20% of the population speaking Welsh.
In
the land of my birth, the Māori language was banned and those
speaking it at school punished for doing so. However, since the 1970s a revitalisation
has taken place, kindled primarily by the establishment of pre-school language
nests (Kohanga Reo) in the early 1980s. In 1987 an Act of Parliament
established Māori as an official language of the country.
Although the number of people stating that they are
able to hold a conversation in Māori remains low, there are many young people
who are now growing up bilingual. In 2017 Rotorua (the city in which I was
born) became the first city in Aotearoa to declare itself bilingual, so that both
Māori and English would be promoted.
In the city in which I now live (Coffs Harbour) the Gumbaynggirr
Giingana Freedom School opened its doors (although in reality, a lot of the
learning takes place on country rather than indoors) in early 2022. The school
is the first (and presently the only) bilingual Aboriginal language school in New
South Wales. The vision of the school is to be ‘Strong in: language,
culture, purpose, identity, motivation, and education.’
This vision fits neatly into the theme of Aboriginal
Language Week – ‘Languages Alive, Culture Thrives.’
When cultures thrive, the well-being of the cultures
members also flourish.
Culture and Health Thrives
A recent review of research attests to this statement.1
Although many of the revitalisation efforts world-wide are aimed at language
promotion and use, a number of other benefits also accrue, including health
benefits. The authors of this study summarised their conclusions by stating
that, ‘The published literature supports the hypothesis that active use or
learning of an Indigenous language has positive health benefits.’
Two aspects of health that showed exceptional health
benefit were those of mental health and suicide prevention. In these two areas,
around 80% of research programs showed a positive effect of language
revitalisation.
What is worthy of further note in this review is that
use of Indigenous language has positive benefit, regardless of
proficiency level.
Nature Thrives Too
When Indigenous language comes alive, cultures thrive –
and so too does the natural world in which we live.
Indigenous cultures have co-evolved with the animals,
plants, rocks, rivers, insects, mountains, and oceans of their place. In that
time such cultures have come to intimately connect with those places and to
learn their ways. Indigenous languages have spoken of these connections for
hundreds of generations. Within the languages there is a wealth of knowledge,
recognition, and wisdom about place.
When Indigenous languages get lost or destroyed then
the knowledge of the natural relationships also get lost or destroyed.
Additionally, Indigenous languages not only provide
knowledge about nature, but also offer us a different way of thinking
about nature.
For example, Galina Angarova, a Buryat woman living
beside Lake Baikal in south-east Siberia, explains that her language
(Bargu-Buryat, a variety of the Mongolian languages) has no word for environment.2
In the Bargu-Buryat language one word has the meaning of state of being
(or self) and the environment. Galina describes how this single word
‘signifies a unity and non-separation between a human and their environment.’
Far from being of no value, Indigenous languages are
vitally important for individual and community well-being, as well as being
essential in the preservation of the planet’s natural biodiversity.
Notes:
1. Whalen et al., Health effects of Indigenous
language use and revitalisation; a realist review, in International Journal
for Equity in Health, (2022) 21:169
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