Gunggandji: Growing language with the next generation

In this episode of Guardians of Language and Country host Donnie Johannesen and producer Alden Lyall bring us stories from the Gunggandji on Yarrabah Country, where language is alive in classrooms, on beaches, and through the voices of the next generation. We'll hear from Lynese Hari about how the Gunggandji Aboriginal Corporation is preserving language through school programs, Junior Ranger activities, and how emerging technologies like AI and social media are being used for language learning. Educator Candice Sexton also explains how students are learning to introduce themselves, sing songs, and tell traditional stories—like how the turtle got its nose—in Gunggandji language. Young rangers demonstrate how deeply language is connected to country as they share place names, animal words, and the cultural stories that connect the past and the future.

Yarrabah Country, Far North Queensland

The young people in Yarrabah do embrace language. I think they get very excited because it's taught in the schools. When they finish school and they're walking out the gate, they're singing, head, shoulders, knees and toes in language. They're coming home, they're sharing these language stories and name with their parents, with their families.

Lenise Harry

Credits:

Hosts: Donnie Johannesen and Alden Lyall

Supervising Producer: Donnie Johannesen

Producer: Alden Lyall

Additional Production: Mandy Coolen

SBS Team: Kerri-Lee Barry, Joel Supple, Max Gosford, Bernadette Phương Nam Nguyễn