FRIDAY OCTOBER 25 | INSTORE EVENT
6.00pm for a 6.30pm start | 60 mins
Join us with the authors of Yaru! in discussion with linguist Gari Tudor-Smith and co-author of Bina: First Nations Languages, Old and New.’
ABOUT THE BOOK
Yaru! is a significant milestone in the documentation and revitalisation of the Gudjal language of the Charters Towers region, Queensland. The project began in the 1970s when Gudjal people collaborated with linguists to record their native tongue. The first Gudjal Dictionary, published in 2006 by William Santo and Cassy Nancarrow, marked the awakening of a language that had long been dormant. Building upon this foundation, Yaru! expands the dictionary and includes the first-ever Gudjal grammar, along with four traditional songs and a Welcome to Country.
The collaboration of Gudjal elder William Santo with linguists Alex Anderson, Cassy Nancarrow, and Myfany Turpin ensures the accuracy and richness of the content. Additionally, accompanying audio of sentences and a Welcome to Country, narrated by Keesha Gordon and Shakira Kelly, and Gudjal songs by the Yamalbara Band, plus an animated video, can be heard via QR codes in the book. The audio can also be downloaded from bandcamp or PARADISEC, a digital archive ensuring access well into the future.
Yaru! will be an invaluable resource to the Gudjal community and schools in the Charters Towers region, providing the tools needed to cultivate a new generation of language speakers. Moreover, it will captivate individuals interested in Australia's First Peoples, their languages, and the revival of endangered languages. The accessibility of audio sets a new standard for multi-media language learning resources.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
William Santo is a Gudjal Elder who has been working on his father's Language for over 30 years. He was a director for the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation that represented the western inland language group in 2000s; and he was instrumental in founding the North Queeensland Regional Aboriginal Corporation Language Centre. He is the author of Maggie and Charley Santo: the history of the Santo Family of Charters Towers (2016). William is also a musician who produced his first album at the Centre for Aboriginal studies in music amd who now writes songs in Gudjal. He is passionate about the revival of his language and hopes to see it spoken again.
Cassy Nancarrow is a linguist and educator who has worked in language documentation and mentoring in schools and diverse community contexts across the north and far north of Queensland since 1997. She collaborated with William Santo on the first Gudjal Dictionary (2006) and works closely with with First Nations people on language and song revival. Cassy has previously published the Gangalidda Dictionary (2014) and a series of multilingual books reflecting traditional, historical and contemporary stories from Elders in the Mornington Island Story Books (2015). She has a keen interest in mentoring others and enabling students on their own learning journey.
Myfany Turpin is a musicologist and linguist who has worked in language documentation and mentoring in central Australia since 1994. She collaborated with Kaytetye people on A Learner’s Guide to Kaytetye (2001), Kaytetye to English Dictionary (2013) and with Gurindji people on Songs from the Stations. Wajarra as sung by Ronnie Wavehill Wirrpnga, Topsy Dodd Ngarnjal and Dandy Danbayarri (2019) as well as a podcast Song With No Boss broadcast on ABC, which explores the history of a widely known ceremony. She is Associate Professor at Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.
Alex Anderson is a graduate of the Master of Linguistics program at the University of Sydney. In his Masters degree he produced a Learner’s Guide to Gudjal working with William Santo and Myfany Turpin. He has previously worked alongside Indigenous communities in Mexico on educational and archival projects. He is currently in Taiwan studying Mandarin, having been awarded a Huayu Enrichment Scholarship from Taiwan.
