[Wikimediaau-l] Aboriginal languages (reply)

[Bruce White]

Hey all

I haven't really been following discussion (below) .. I guess, the recent formulation and release of Maori online is relevant/pertinent?
 
Speaking with some limited experience, I wish to note:
 
1)  there are increasing numbers of Aboriginal peoples across Australia who are working/training/starting to use web accessible, web based technologies to 'map' and/or record place names, culture landscapes. including languages .. 
 
2) in all/most cases however .. languages and present .. used to name and tell all in the past and the present .. are often properly (?) regarded as a cultural resource exciting exciting a vast array of valid cultural and intellectual property issues to be worked through etc
 
Otherwise .. on first glance, it would some worthy projects/goals might be able to be built around Aboriginal languages/knowledges .. using Wikimedia ?!!
 
Cheers
 
Bruce (bruceanthro)
 
 

--- On Thu, 7/31/08, Janet Hawtin <lucychili at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Janet Hawtin <lucychili at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Aboriginal languages (reply)
To: "Wikimedia-au" <wikimediaau-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 10:22 AM

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 9:45 AM, Orderinchaos78
<orderinchaos78 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Yes, sadly there are dead aboriginal languages, but there are plenty
of
>> others that are not only alive, but are the first and primary language
of
>> many people.

It is challenging to introduce wikipedia to people in Aboriginal communities.
The languages in articles about them is as above.
The language of this people is extinct.
Showing that to someone who speaks it is confronting for both of us.
It is probably considered primary research to change the article when
it was referenced to a book.
But sometimes the truth is not published.
And it seemed the right thing to do.
Janet

>> I saw a program on Four Corners* looking into the poor English
literacy
>> rates on the Tiwi Islands. The reason -- the children were instead
>> literate
>> in Tiwi -- their first language. To me that screams "opportunity
for
>> another
>> language Wikipedia & Wiktionary".
>
> Saw the same one :) Here in Perth and in the South West, Nyungar/Noongar
is
> very common, and in the far north (Kimberley region) two or three
languages
> are particularly common, as is a standardised Kriol (which is different to
> other creoles of course due to different source languages and, oddly, the
> influence of Malay and Mandarin which goes back a long way).
>
> Oh and Alex - gmail doesn't easily allow one to change the topic and
when I
> do (such as now), I have to actually remember or guess at what the old
topic
> was. If gmail allowed folders I'd undigest it and set up a rule but
> otherwise at times like the last few days I'd be getting a flood of
little
> emails.
>
> cheers
> Andrew
>
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