What Learning Noongar has taught me

Kaya, nganyang korl Joe.

Ngany kaadidj nidja Noongar moort boodja wer koora-koora wer yeyi wer mila.

Ngany djerapin nidja boodja-k wer kaadidj nedigar wer boordiya wer koora-koora wer yeyi wer mila.

A bucket list item that I finally got around to in 2019 was to learn the Noongar language, the indigenous language of southwest WA. I was prompted by the combination of hearing WA Chief Scientist Peter Klinken speak in Noongar after telling his experience of hearing the widely accepted Maori greeting at a NZ conference; and soon after seeing an online course from Curtin Uni advertised. See https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:CurtinX+CAS1x+1T2019/course/

This excellent course, overseen by Marion Kickett and Simon Forrest and featuring a cast of eminent Noongars such as Noel Nannup, George Walley, Della Rae Morrison and Gail Beck among others.

In the introduction Marion says I think it's great for non-Aboriginal people to learn the Noongar language. It connects you as non-Aboriginal people to Noongar people. And with that connection we can build a wonderful rapport and acknowledgment and respect of each other. I subsequently checked in with a few Noongar friends including elder Doolann Leisha Eatts to see what they thought of me learning Noongar and they were all very supportive.

So somewhat sporadically I’ve logged in and followed the 6 chapters and have been able to learn not just individual words but phrases and sentences though I confess to needing to follow this up as I haven’t practiced it and forget things more easily at this stage of my life.

The first word learned was the greeting kaya and one that I’ve previously knew. What I perhaps didn’t fully appreciate is that the role of the greeting seeks to make connection and for strangers it is about finding out how your mob relates to their mob. I see you and I want to understand how we connect.  

Seeing videos of people like Noel and George speak Noongar on country further confirmed my desire to better appreciate and absorb the aboriginal spirit of connecting to nature and understanding with the consequence of having to share and fight for our natural world even more.

As George says Noongar words are ‘more than just words’ when you learn Noongar words in relation to nature and the environment, and the meaning of these words, you start to understand how words hold knowledge within them. For example, the Noongar name for river and umbilical cord is the same – bilya. Noongar people see the river sustaining life; just like the umbilical cord of a baby in the womb sustains an unborn baby’s life.

My first public outing speaking Noongar was to provide an acknowledgement of country to about 30 supportive types. I was more nervous about remembering the words and pronunciation than anything else. After some initial platitudes a more honest feedback emerged from friends that spoke of their unease as I spoke – a combination of ‘is he showing off’ and ‘are we appropriating their language as well?’ This actually resonated with me as I recall hearing someone whitefella do what I’d just done and that was my immediate reaction as well. So I learned that I had to communicate what Marion and Doolann had said before speaking Noongar in public to address this unease. It is a shame that we feel inhibited about learning Noongar because of this perspective. Of course the ‘showing off’ thing is harder to address but if more people start doing it, then it would help encourage the speaking to become more acceptable and mainstream.

How does this relate to Active Hope? Well it relates to my desire to better understand indigenous perspectives and in particular my connection to the natural world around me – a significant part of my spiritual journey.

So as I continue my journey I invite you to have a look at the Curtin course – it is free and accessible.

Translation from opening

Hello my name is Joe. I acknowledge this is Noongar family/ people’s country from long long time ago to now to future. I happy to be on this country and acknowledge Ancestors and Elders from long long time ago to now to future.