Stitch by Stitch,
Circle by Circle,
Weaving is like the creation of life,
all things are connected.[Ngarrindjeri weaver, Ellen Trevorrow, 2005, quoted in Caring for Ngarrindjeri Sea Country and Culture, p51]
For thousands of years, the Ngarrindjeri in daily greetings, in the retelling of Creation Stories, in pakari prayers songs, in ngrilkulun dancing and ringballin singing ceremonies, in charging objects with the sacred, have observed the cycle of life and maintained connection with Country.
The Ngarrindjeri say: Our lands, Our Waters, Our People, All Living things are connected.
We implore people to respect our Ruwe (Country) as it was created in the Kaldowinyeri ( the Creation).
We long for the sparkling clean waters, healthy land and people and all living things.
We long for the Yarluwar-Ruwe (Sea Country) of our ancestors.
Our vision is all people Caring, Sharing, Knowing and Respecting the lands, waters and all living things." [Caring for Ngarrindjeri Sea Sea Country and Culture, p5]
All is connected.
Land sustains language.
Language sustains the land.
The words of First Peoples, shaped by intimate knowledge of of the terrain, waters, turning of tides, stars, seasons, sing out to Country in ways that are life affirming for all.
Language has an ecological link with homelands.
Language diversity is connected explicitly with the health of the environment, assert anthropologist Daniel Nettle and professor of English Suzanne Romain, in
Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages, 2000.
For thousands of years, the Ngarrindjeri have gathered on the island where their heritage of language originated: Kumarangk. But when the Hindmarsh Island Bridge was opened on March 4th 2000, culturally appropriate access to Kumarangk (Hindmarsh Island) via the ferry was removed.
The impact of this on the Ngarrindjeri community has been cruel. Community Health Worker, Andrea Henschke observed:"When the bridge was built, the women were diempowered and dispossesed all over again. The impact on their psyche was dramatic and physical health issues have been exacerbated. Diabetes and heart disease are significant issues for older Ngarrindjeri women. Substance abuse and suicide are issues for the young. Violence and abuse against women within the community is of great concern." [V Tjukonai, "The Language of the land" in Women and Sustainability, Woman's Studies Journal, York University, 2002]
"Emotionally it was very traumatic," said Ngarrindjeri elder Veronica Brodie. "We Ngarrindjeri women have had to try and get through the hard times we've had ...There is a great need for love and forgiveness all round." [Veronica Brodie, My Side of the Bridge, pp160,162]
For Country to regenerate, for the lands and waters to be healthy, they need the prayers, songs, stories: nurturing relationship with the Ngarrindjeri. And "the land and waters must be healthy for the Ngarrindjeri people to be healthy," said Tom Trevorrow. All is connected.
The mouth, lakes and Coorong that are the lungs of the River are dying, and without them, the River dies. Now that Lake Albert at the lower end of the River Murray is on artificial life support to prevent it from irretrievable collapse, respect for Country is desperately needed.
COUNTRY:But the English words used to relate to Country are stuck in medieval European concepts of dominion over the land. In 1066, a Norman duke made himself king and sole owner of England, William the Conqueror's word for "country" was the Old French cuntree, an abbreviation of the medieval Latin terra contrata, "land opposite or before one." [John Ayto, Dictionary of Word Origins, p140] Up until the 15th century, "country" meant a "foreign land;" land to be invaded, dominated and plundered.
This medieval concept of dominion over "country" was transported to this continent, along with the convict labour to achieve that dominion. Today, Australians generally use a possessively article when referring to Country. It's usually "my" or "our country."
"The Creator who gave us life taught us not to fight over Country, but to share," said Ngarrindjeri elder Dorothy Shaw.
The meaning of English words change, because they are not rooted in the soil of their homeland. English linguists talk about English words being "acquired," "introduced" or "borrowed," when in actuality they were imposed from the language of the Conqueror or stolen from the tongues of the conquered in a long and bloody history of Empire-building. Below is a list of English words which came into being care of the Norman Conquest, and almost a millennium later, still maintain a discourse of feudal dominance over the land. ARMY: "Army," "war" and "range" all have Old French origins, thanks to the Norman Invasion. "Range" originally meant a row or line of soldiers or hunters.
CATTLE:
"Cattle" and "chattel," are the same word etymologically, points out John Ayto. [Dictionary of Word Origins, p102] Both imply ownership via the Old French chatel from the medieval Latin capitale "property," source of the English "capital."
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COURT: In the twelfth century, "court," was the royal household and its retinue. It was derived from the Old French curt, from the Latin cortem, from cohors enclosed yard, but extended to mean those who assembled in such a yard: "a crowd of attendants" or a "company of soldier," says Ayto. "Court" became an assembly of judges, likely influenced by the Latin curia "sovereign's assembly" and "legal tribunal," because Norman "assemblies for justice" were " overseen by the sovereign personally," says Douglas Harper. COURTEOUS: from the Old French curties, in the thirteenth century meant "having courtly bearing or manners," and denoted an educated man, says Harper.
CIVIL and CIVILIZE: In the Norman imposed feudal society, superiors, the Norman nobles, were "courteous," while inferiors, the English who were given no recourse to education, were "civil," says Harper, via Old French from the Latin civilis "of citizens." French gave English "civilize," meaning "citified" in the 17th century, and "civilization" in the 18th century, referring originally to a legal process of making a criminal "civil," but it came to mean the opposite of "barbarity."
The colonizing British in Australia justified genocide by regarding the continent's First Peoples as a sub-human barbaric race who needed to be "Christianized" and civilized:
"The aborigines of South Australia ...if compared with mankind in general or with barbarous nations alone: they rank the very lowest, and are almost without exception the most inferior; whether in a moral -- intellectual (mental), or civilized point of view." [amateur ethnographer, William Cawthorne, quoted in Survival in Our Own Land, p4]
DANGER:
"Danger" and "dominion" both derive ultimately, says Ayto, from the Vulgar latin domniarium "power of a lord." This led to the Old French dangier and the Anglo-Norman daunger. To be in someone's "danger," meant to be in the power or at the mercy of a lord or master who could punish, which led to the evolution of danger's meaning of peril.
DESMESNE/DOMAIN
Under the feudal system imposed in the 12th century by William the Bastard, "desmesne," from the Old French "demeine," was land retained by a lord for his own private use and not let out to tenants. It is now a legal term for the possession of real estate. "Domain" arrived in English in the 17th century via Scots but from the same French source as "desmesne." The Domain in Sydney, the Queen's Domain in Hobart, the Domain Parklands in Melbourne refer to land that was set aside for the private use of the British Crown or its representative in Australia. "Domain" has extended its meaning to include estates, and the extent of one's dominion. The idea that landowners can do what they like in their domains dates from medieval concepts of land tenure.
DISTRICT:
"District" was territory under the dominion of a feudal lord. It came from the medieval Latin districtus from the verb distringere, "to seize, compel," source also of "distrain" and "distress." "District" replaced the Old English ymbhwyrft "circuit."
DOMINION: "Dominion," "desmesne," and "domain" all come via the French from the Latin dominium, "property." In Roman society, the domini were masters and owners, particularly of slaves. In the King James Bible, "Dominion" was used to translate Genesis1:28 where God commanded "man" to exert dominion over the earth. "Dominion" was the term the British Empire applied to its territories across the globe. Australia was a Dominion in 1901. In 1953 the term was replaced by another medieval French word "realm," but "Her Majesty's dominions" is still used in a constitutional context, referring to "all the realms and territories of the Sovereign," says Wikipedia.
EMPIRE:"Empire" and "emperor" arrived via Old French, from the Latin imperare, to command, says John Ayto. "Invade, search out, capture, vanquish and subdue all Saracens and pagans ... and other enemies of Christ," ordered Pope Nicholas V in 1452. The head of the Roman Church also directed that non-Christians be "reduced to perpetual slavery." This was an ongoing papal policy, for in the 1493 Inter Cetera bull Pope Alexander VI ordered: "Barbarous nations be over thrown."
In the next 500 years, these papal bulls legitimized Europe's global land grab in which "more than 96 million Indigenous peoples" were "lost," asserted Oglala Lakota Birgil Kills Straight, in1992. Kills Straight contrasted his people's traditional knowledge of "natural laws and Mother Earth as a spiritual entity" with "manmade laws based on capitalistic economies and domination over nature." [Valerie Taliman, "Revoke the Inter Cetera Bull"]
Calls to the Roman Church to revoke the Inter Cetera bull of 1493 as a symbolic "end to this tradition of subjugation" to this date have gone unheeded.
ENVIRONMENT:
"Environ" came via the Old French environer, "to surround protectively or hostilely. "Environment" developed in the 17th century, meaning "state of being environed," notes Douglas Harper. [Online Etymology Dictionary] In the 19th century it became synonymous with nature and neighbourhood and in the 20th century accrued an ecological association.
ESTATE:
Both "estate" and "state" are basically the same word. Both come via the Old French estat from the Latin status "way of standing, condition," source of the English "status." William the Conqueror paid for his armed forces with confiscated land. So, social standing became aligned with private land ownership: estates.
FARM: "Farm" derives from the Anglo-Norman ferme, the fixed yearly rent due to the lord under Norman occupation.It replaced the Old English eorð-tilð, earth tillage and suppressed the practice of seeking Moðor Eorð, Mother Earth's blessing before tilling the soil.
FENCE: Abbreviation of "defence," from the Old French defens, to ward off. "Fence" replaced the Old English pearroc enclosure or ærhege, hedge of sacred trees.
GOVERN: "Govern" came via the Old French, via Latin, from the Greek kubernan "steer a ship," source of "cybernetics," says John Ayto. In the thirteenth century "govern" meant to "rule with authority," to rule and regulate. It replaced the Old English leodweard guardianship of the people.
MONEY: Coin after the Norman Conquest was known by the Old French name moneie which became the English "money." It's derived from the Latin moneta. Juno Moneta was the Roman Mother Goddess who guarded the Temple & mint, and who bestowed blessings upon coins to be circulated. Juno, source of the English June, derives from an Indo-European word meaning "vital force," and Juno Moneta ensured that this was shared. In contrast, William the Bastard taxed the English to the point of oppression. While the workers became impoverished, the Norman aristocracy squandered the country's money in their fortified castles. Money is a medieval construct which maintains an inequitable distribution of the world's wealth. Ironically, on the Australian $50 note, Ngarrindjeri elder David Unaipon (1872-1967) has the honour of being depicted. Author, orator, preacher, scientist, inventor, Unaipon was a strong advocate for social justice, especially for his people. "Release the bonds," he pleaded.
OCCUPY: "Occupy" comes via Anglo-Norman occupier from the Latin occupare seize forcefully.
PARK: After the Norman Conquest, land which once held in common was enclosed for royal hunting and took the Old French name parc. Putting military vehicles in an enclosed area gave rise to the verb "to park," says John Ayto.
PARLIAMENT: After the Norman Conquest, parlement, from the Old French parler speak, was a conference or a consultative assembly. It soon became "parliament" a legislative body. It replaced the Old English moot which took place at a holy hill or mound, a sacred oak tree, a stone monument, or crossroads. In each borough, the head of each household had the right to appear. William the Conqueror placed the boroughs under the military control of loyal lords, and business was conducted at a centralized weekly indoor assembly, the court of Hustings.
A Parliamentarian was, in the 17th century, the name for "one of the sides of the English Civil War," notes Douglas Harper, and only came to mean a member of Parliament in the 19th century. In South Australia, the Ngarrindjeri had their right to vote taken away with Federation in 1901, not to return again for another 6 decades.
PEACE: "Peace" in 12th century English meant "freedom from civil disorder," says Douglas Harper. [Online Etymology Dictionary] "Civil disorder" is a euphemism for the resistance of the local inhabitants to the Norman Invasion. "Peace" was brought about by a brutal "smash and burn" policy which saw much of the north of English levelled to the ground, its population massacred. "Peace" is derived via the Anglo-Norman pes, from the Latin pax, from pak, source of the English "pact" and "pole." Presumably, when a pact was made between rulers disputing territory, a "pole" was placed in the ground to mark changed boundaries. "Peace" replaced the Old English sibb, related to the English "sibling" and "gossip." In Old English, sibb "peace" wasn't a truce after war, but the result of fostering relationships, alliances and kinship.
PROPERTY: The English word "property" derives from the Old French propriete, from the Latin proprietas, "ownership," notes etymologist John Ayto, [Dictionary of Word Origins, p415] In 1085, William the Bastard, commissioned the Domesday Book in order to know exactly what he possessed and how much taxation he could reap. Land, livestock, crops, people all were considered his property.
PROVINCE:
"Province" derives from the Old French province, from the Latin provincia "region of conquered territory." [Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, p375] In 1834, an act of the British Parliament and signed by another King William, authorized the theft of First Nations' Country, declared it "waste and unoccupied," and legitimized the "Colonization" of the "British Province or Provinces" of South Australia.
TERRITORY: Coming from the Latin territorium, possibly from terra land or terrere "frighten," says Douglas Harper, "territory" etymologically is land where intruders are warned off. The doctrine of Terra nullius used by European empires to legitimize land thefts, was based on the ancient Roman law that Res nullius: things not owned, which included the property of an enemy, could belong to the first possessor. In the preamble of the 1834 South Australian Foundation Act this territory was described as "waste and unoccupied:" Until the Mabo High Court decision in1992, Australia maintained the lie of Terra nullius.
Ngarrindjeri elder Tom Trevorrow points to tourist information signs in the Coorong National Park which say: "The Coorong was the territory of an Aboriginal group called the Ngarrindjeri." Thus, with the use of the English past tense, Tom and his people are still written out of existence.
TREATY: Treat, the verb and the noun, treatise, treaty and tractor came into English from the Latin tractere to drag, says Ayto. The Anglo-Norman verb treter in the 13th century meant to deal with, hence "treatment" in a managerial or medical sense. In the 14th century "treaty" became "an action of discussing terms," notes Douglas Harper. "Treatise" replaced the Old English larspell, literally "lore speech," " to treat" replaced lacnian, to heal, while "treaty" replaced settlements under the Anglo-Saxon code of honour. The Anglo-Norman treaty bought off rivals for the Crown, or to avoid more bloodshed was a victor's form of blackmail or revenge over the vanquished. In 1979 a National Aboriginal Conference preferred the term Makarrata to "treaty." Makarrata is a Yolgnu word for the ritual which after a dispute restores good relationships, good feelings, by removing blame or guilt.
DEGRADING ENGLISH: Some Old English words survived the Norman Invasion, but often meanings, especially of words related to land usage, were degraded under the influence of Norman-French:
BRIGHT:Derived from the old English bryght, from the Indo-European *bhereg to shine, says John Ayto, "bright" shares its origins with Brighid, Gaelic Earth goddess. The Shining Ones are the Gaelic Fae spirits of nature. Brighid who also has the title Sireadh Thall "Seek beyond," was Christianized as St Brigit or St Bride. [www.ceilede.uk.co]
EARTH:
Before the Norman Conquest, the Old English for "country" was folcland, Land of the people, or Earð, respected Mother Earth. Before turning the soil to plant crops, Old English farmers chanted a sacred invocation: Erce, Erce, Erce, Eorþan Modor Earth, Mother of Earth. Earð or Eorða derived from the Norse norn Urða who draws water from the Well of Urð to water the Tree of Life. Now "earth" is synonymous with dirt, or an inanimate object revolving around the sun.
GROUND: In old English grund was the "deep," a place of mystery, related to grynde, abyss. Grund was not lifeless, but inhabited by grund-wyrgen, fierce female portents. Grund was the Underworld, or Otherworld, home of spirits, similar to the Gaelic domhain, world, universe, the Earth, from the Old Irish domun, from the Indo-European *dheub-, which gave rise to the English "deep" and "dive." The Irish might say: Ta an domhain saibhris aige, "The world of wealth is at him." It is the domhain Mother Earth who gives the wealth, in contrast to English where wealth is ascribed to a person as status: "She is wealthy."
HOLINESS: Today "holiness" is the province of religion, but in Old English holy ground was a sanctuary protected by sacred trees. In Gaelic law, felling sacred trees was an offence punishable by death. Hail, hale, hallow, heal, health, holy, and whole come from the Germanic khailaz a place of good omen, says Ayto. Holiness is also related to the Old English rune mother hægl, the hail-like cosmic egg of Creation. [RWV Elliott, Runes, p49]
LAND: Today any area of ground is called land, but the word comes from the prehistoric Germanic *landam, a sacred enclosed area, says Ayto. The ancient sense of the land as sacred and a house of deity is still found in the related Welsh llan church.
LOT: A parcel of land that can be bought and sold was in Old English hlot. A hlot was actually an object which decided a share of land held by the community in common. Some plots of land were more productive than others, and so casting lots handed the decision to the gods.
THING: In Old English a þing "thing," from the verb þingan to invite, was a deed, an event, a cause, a reason or motive, a discussion, a matter of business, assembly, council or court of justice. A þingere was an advocate, a mediator, a priest interceding for the people, a þingestre was a priestess, a female advocate, and þinggemearc was the reckoning of time by events. The Icelandic parliament is known as Althing, points out Ayto. The Norman overthrow of the þing led eventually to the corrupting of a "thing" to an inanimate object. I'd like to think of myself as a "thinger" or "thingster," an advocate for respecting the life in all "things."
WEIRD: Today "weird" may mean strange, odd, eccentric, but its original meaning has been corrupted. In the Old English mind, the Earth was crafted by the sacred intention of the Wyrd, derived from the West Saxon weorþan to become, from an Indo-European base *uert- to turn, to wind, and possibly to will and to speak. From *uert- also came the Norse triple-goddess Urðr, known in Old English as the Wyrd Sisters or Three Wyrds, as well as the Old English deity Eorða, Earth. Today, many tourists to the Coorong drive across dunes and through Ngarrindjeri sites at least 12,000 years old, without a second thought for the mess they leave behind on the earth.
WILDERNESS: Today wilderness means a region unspoilt by humans, a tourist terra nullius treasure, and home of wild creatures. In Old English wilde meant free. The Old English wildēornes was a place where creatures and humans alike were free to roam. Wildēornes was a place where deities dwelt and were revered. From dēor is derived "deer" but in Old English dēor meant animal, says Ayto. Dēor may derive from the Indo-European dheu, shining fire, source of "deity" and "divinity." In 1066 William the Bastard gave a quarter of his conquered land to the Church of Rome. It banned the English from visiting the wilderness places for what it considered Pagan worship. Wilderness then became wild, uninhabited and home to the heathen.
ENGLISH APPROPRIATIONS: Furthermore, when English comes into contact with other people's language, it often appropriates words without regard for cultural contexts. English linguists call them "loan" or "borrowed" words:
EMU was appropriated from the Portuguese ema "cassowary." [Australian Aboriginal Words in English, p51]
GALAH was appropriated from the Yuwaalaraay nation, north New South Wales. Originally gilaa, it has been corrupted to mean a "fool." [[Australian Aboriginal Words in English, p84] The long living, mating-for-life galah is a highly intelligent creature.
KANGAROO was taken from the Guugu Yimidhirr gaŋurru, "a large black or grey kangaroo." Captain Cook in 1770 made lists of words from the Guugu Yimidhirr while making repairs to the ship Endeavour. When asking about the names of several marsupials, ganurru was recorded as "kangaroo," but this was "wrongly taken to be the name for any species of kangaroo or wallaby."[Australian Aboriginal Words in English, p57]
LAW: English appropriated the word from Old Norse lagu, replacing the Old English oe, law, says John Ayto. Lagu is the plural of lag, layer. It is also a rune, points out RWV Elliott, which means "water as a source of fertility." Laguz according to some German writers, says Freya Aswyn, means "love or life." In the Norse tradition, layers of honour flow into the Well of Wyrd, says Swain Wodening Canote. Each new life draws upon the ancestors' layers from the Well. Thus Germanic peoples saw themselves as being created by "the law, their deeds being the law, their customs being the law."
TOTEM was appropriated from the Ojibwa ototeman "belonging to a family or group," says Ayto. Totem was assumed to be an animal or natural object representing the emblem of a clan. In Ngarrindjeri, ngartji is often translated as "totem" but ngartji means so much more: friend, messenger, relative, guardian. George Trevorrow explained to Justice Matthews: "Ngartji to non-Aboriginal people is like a totem which each one of us has and each group belongs to...A ngartji is something more than a close friend. It's more than your best friend. It is something more closely to you." [Diane Bell, Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin, p205.] And just as I was writing, this "friend" appeared next to my PC:
GLOBAL ENGLISH: English has become a global language. It is the utilitarian currency of the market place, enabling the conveyance of commodities, property, ideas and services. But when English-speakers try to relate to Land that is neither inanimate nor someone's property, English words fail.
GREGARIOUS FIRST LANGUAGES: In contrast, First Peoples' languages are "gregarious," says French socio-linguist, Louis-Jean Calvet. They foster belonging, they nurture relationships and respect diversity. They cross boundaries into liminality and can accommodate the "inexplicable" and "ineffable." [ L-J Calvet, Language Wars: Language Policies and Globalization, p6]
The extinction of languages is "part of the larger picture of near-total collapse of the worldwide ecosystem," writes Nettle and Romain. [Vanishing Voices, 2000]
English is everywhere in Australia. Under British occupation, First Peoples' languages were banned in misguided policies of "Assimilation." Australia has been engineered as a mono-lingual society in the erroneous belief that universal English delivers social cohesion. It hasn't worked. The "mono-lingual mind-set" was evident in policies of the Howard Federal Government. Indigenous Affairs Minister ignored a report which found that "students achieve better levels of learning" when " the home languages and cultures of students are reflected in their learning experiences and learning environments." [Indigenous Languages and Cultures in Northern Territory Schools Report 2004-2005] The minister believed that "ensuring" all "Aboriginal children" learnt English would give them " the same opportunities as white children." ["Indigenous school plan criticised," The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 May, 2007.]
In contrast, the European Union encourages its citizens to be multi-lingual. In Article 22 of its Charter of Fundamental Rights, the EU declares its respect for linguistic diversity, linking it with acceptance of the diversity between peoples, and respect for cultural difference. Article 21 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of language. Languages are in fact "instruments of inclusion," says Clyne.
Australia currently does not meet the aspirations set out in Article 13 of the United Nations 2007 Declaration on the right of Indigenous peoples. It states: "Indigenous peoples have the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, language, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons."
It appears that our local community paper, the Lakelander, does not meet the aspirations of Article 13. The work of Ngarrindjeri artists was featured on the front page of Issues 15 and 20, 2008, but in both instances there was no appropriate acknowledgement of their nation's name, despite a particular request by at least one artist and despite a local Indigenous population of several hundred. In a previous issue, a report on a significant local concert omitted all mention of the Ngarrindjeri Welcome to Country speech by the Chair of Raukkan Council.
Yet English names dominate the landscape, flora and fauna. The grass-tree that once grew prolifically on the Narrung Peninsula is found on websites with the racist name "black-boy." "Black boy," was the name given to enslaved First Peoples. Yet today this tragic history is trivialised with "black-boy" being used as the name of an Australian bore, camp, cave, cottage, creek, falls, forest, flower essence, grass-tree, eucalypt, hill, hollow, horse, insect, kennels, money-box, motel, outstation, park, plain, ridge, rose, springs, steamship, trail, walk, way, and winery.
"From the time of European settlement, English has become Australianized in speech communities: the European and the Indigenous communities," writes researcher Ian G Malcolm. Malcolm points out that while linguistically there is little to distinguish the two dialects, speakers of First Nations' English "suffer discrimination when it comes to receiving services intended to be equally available to all Australians."
Significantly, the First Nations' way of being in the world is not relinquished upon learning English. "Life-space" and "frameworks of activity and relationship" are maintained, observed Malcolm. [Inquiry into the Needs of Metropolitan and Urban Dwelling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.]
Furthermore, First Nations' writers have "reinvented and redirected the language imposed on them into a powerful tool of resistance and resilience," writes Diane Bell. [Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin, p143] The following are English words which,in First Nations' contexts, demonstrate continuity of pre-invasion cultural frameworks.
COUNTRY: The First Nations' English usage of "Country," has no possessive article, as in "Caring for Country."
"Country in Aboriginal English," says academic Deborah Bird Rose, "is not a common noun, but a proper noun." [Rose, Nourishing Terrains, Australian Aboriginal Views of Landscape and Wilderness.]
In First Nations' English, Country is a "living entity" with a "will towards life," observes Rose. First Peoples relate to Country in a kinship relationship. " People and Country take care of each other," writes Rose. Country was created, is recreated by Ancestral custodians.
Country is a "big book," says Ngarrindjeri rupelli, George Trevorrow . "Now, over the years, people been taking ... like tearing pages out of our book ... and that leaves us with a big blank." [Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin, p307]
The Ngarrindjeri translate "Country" as Ruwi, but unlike countries of the British Empire whose boundaries shifted with the latest conquest, Ngarrindjeri Ruwi is sacred and inviolable.
Ruwi cannot be translate simply. Ngarrindjeri Ruwi, points out Bell, is the "living body" of the lands and waters, creatures and peoples. "Ngarrindjeri Ruwar," sings elder Victor Wilson: "one body,all the people." [Ngarrindjeri Wurruwarrin, pp622-3] So when the Ngarrindjeri speak, their language connects them to the living Country who sustains them.
Different attitudes to Country:
LANGUAGE: English is a language full of individual names for things, right down to the smallest molecule and far out into the universe. English separates each thing, so it appears to exist on its own. In 1870, a German zoologist had to invent a word to describe relationships between living creatures and the land: ecology. In contrast, comes the observation of First Nation's linguist, Jeanie Bell: "Our languages are the voice of the Land and we are the carriers of language."
LAW: Unlike English (Norman-Roman) law which is imposed from above and values property, First Nations' Law arises from the Land and values knowledge given by Spiritual Ancestors in the time of Creation.
"We are asking non-Indigenous people to respect our traditions, our rights and our responsibilities according to Ngarrindjeri laws." [Ngarrindjeri Yarluwar-Rwue Plan]
SACRED describes First Peoples' cultural practices, woven into the seasons of the Earth-world and Sky-world. "Sacred" denotes ancient knowledge to be respected and protected.
"What is sacred?" replied Ramindjeri Ngarrindjeri Paul Norvill. "Culture is sacred!"
"We are deeply offended that a Government in this day and age has the audacity to order an inquiry into our secret, sacred, spiritual beliefs." [Statement to the Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission, 1995, signed by the Ngarrindjeri women.
SOVEREIGNTY in First Nation's English usage refers to connection with Country, traditional lands and waters, never sold nor ceded to any foreign power.
SPIRIT: In First Nation's English "spirit" is used as an adjective, as in "Spirit Country," a reminder that the physical realm is not separate from, but is enlivened with Spirit.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF MONO-LINGUAL AUSTRALIA:
84% of Australians at the 2001 census are mono-lingual: they do not speak a language other than English at home, says the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Romain and Nettle's assertion that language diversity is connected with the health of the environment appears true for the Australia. Parts of the continent are so degraded they have been described as "ecological basket cases," "triage" areas, and "sacrifice zones" with an estimated repair bill of $65 billion. [Background Briefing, 15/9/02, ABC Radio National]
May we re-phrase this English discourse of dominance over the land to one of respect for the Earth and Her peoples. The UK has laws which protect the language rights of Cynmru speakers in Wales and Gaelic speakers in Scotland. May Australia likewise value First Nations' languages and learn how words can connect us with Country and restore Country.
© Vesper Tjukonai, June 2008
