Gift Culutre – Noongar Language

Kaya! Noonook moorditj?

Our latest Gift Culture recipient is Sharon Gregory for her work teaching Noongar language. Sharon is an experienced Noongar language teacher, and has published Noongar-English dictionaries through Batchelor Press.

Beginner’s lessons are currently being held at Tuart Place, 24 High St, Fremantle every Saturday morning from 9am. New students are welcome, and each lesson is $20. Sharon has said she will put the $50 gift towards buying new teaching resources and materials for the class.

The Noongar people of the south west of of Western Australia have tended spiritual-cultural and all social life here for more than 40,000 years. The Noongar represent part of the oldest continuing civilisation in the world.

Wikipeda states that, today, the Noongar language is considered endangered, with few fluent speakers. Noongar translates roughly as “human being”.

If Western Australia is to experience any kind of cultural and thereby social renewal through the creativity of human spiritual capacity, then surely a deeper understanding of the Noongar culture and its language has a part to play in this.

From my experience, the words I have so far learned have been like doorways that enable a ready and further opening onto the field of ‘true names’ of things. A black swan is not just a black swan, he is maali. A river is not just a river, it is bilya. And maali is not just swimming, he (baal) is djiba-djobaliny (pron. ‘jibba-jobelin’). Maali baal bilya-k djiba-djobaliny.

This gift will enable these lessons to continue with the resources they need, so that all people of this place may have the possibility of coming closer to a swimming in the river of the true names of things, including Noongar culture, including Western Australia itself. From such a place, who knows what we may be able to create.

Boorda.

John (and Katie).