In 1974, young linguist student Diana Eades travelled to Nambucca Heads to record conversations with one of the last fluent Gumbaynggirr speakers, Tiger, or Harry, Buchanan. Ten years later, a group of Gumbaynggirr Elders, living at that time on Dunghutti land, approached a local Priest, Brother Stephen Morelli, and asked if he would help them save their language. He not only agreed, he began to study linguistics. From there, Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Cooperative was born, and the first dictionary was produced. Now there are songs in language, it has been part of TV shows, and there is a bilingual school where children learn Gumbaynggirr alongside English. This is Gumbyanggirr Barrwayay, a six-part podcast series about the story of a community’s resilience and patience in the process of saving their language. Bringing to life the positive impact that the work has had on the lives of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and reminding us about the importance of language.
We can see what it does to the younger generation, the strengths that it’s given them. Hopefully we can bare the brunt of that outside pressure while they can build on their strengths, that’s the name of the game I think. For the younger people.Gary Williams
This six-part podcast shares the story of how the Gumbaynggirr Language was saved.
Like many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, the Gumbaynggirr language was almost destroyed by frontier wars, government regulations, social norms and Stolen Generations. This is the story of its survival. Gumbaynggirr Country is on the mid north coast of NSW.
Episode features: Gary Williams, Micklo (Michael Jarrett), Pauline Hooler, Br Steve Morelli and Dylan Berger.
Cover artwork: The Muurrbay Tree painted by Shaa Smith.
Music: Jalay, written and performed by Manduway.
Narrated by Blake Cusack.
Created with the support of Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Cooperative
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