FILMING YANKUNYTJATJARA ELDERS AT ULURU FOR YEAR OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

November 4, 2019

The MLT has been celebrating 2019 UNESCO International Year of Indigenous Languages with a recent trip to Uluru to kick off the Yankunytjatjara Storyteller’s project.

The Yankunytjatjara Storyteller’s project was funded through the UNESCO Year of Indigenous Languages grant fund to record Yankunytjatjara storytellers of Uluru speak in Yankunytjatjara about country, culture and Wapar (Ancestral Stories).

The MLT travelled up to Uluru, Northern Territory, to sit down with four elders from the Mutitjulu Community to hear and record their stories in wangka (language).

As part of this project, five short films will be developed which will assist with the maintenance of the Yankunytjatjara language. The films will be archived at Ara Irititja for use by the Yankunytjatjara community and wider community.

“The aim of Aṟa Irititja is to deliver back home materials of cultural and historical significance to Aṉangu by way of interactive multimedia software now known as Keeping Culture KMS. Materials include photographs, films, sound recordings and documents. This purpose-built computer archive digitally stores these materials and other contemporary items and repatriates them to Aṉangu.”

Stay tuned to the Mobile Language Team’s Facebook and website where we will be launching the five short films.