Speaking in my ancestors' tongues

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Dr Ray Kelly Snr is the Chair of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.
He is a Dhangatti and Gumbayngirr man who grew up in Silver City, an Aboriginal Reserve outside Armidale.
His mother tongues have surrounded Ray his whole life.
The creativity of language and storytelling drew him in, around the fire at night.
Ray's Nan would bring to life her grandfather, Joe Woods, the medicine man with his two medicine dogs.
When Ray's grandfather was asked to translate the word "telephone" into Gumbayngirr, he responded, 'muuya barrigi'. Flying breath.
As an adult, when Ray started listening to recordings of his elders, collected in the 1960s and 70s, he heard something new.
Further information
Originally broadcast April 2024.
Read about Ray's work reviving Indigenous languages with the Wollotuka Institute at The University of Newcastle.
Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.