The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project promotes Noongar culture through language, storytelling, illustration, music, song and dance.
The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project promotes Noongar culture through language, storytelling, illustration, music, song and dance.
The Project was inspired by Committee Chairman Kim Scott, an award-winning author, and fellow writer Hazel Brown when they worked together on the novel ‘Kayang and Me’.
‘We both started to realize what didn’t fit in a book, and that was the Indigenous language she carried,’ Kim said. ‘So we began trying to document the stories and the songs, the very sounds of some of our old language.
‘The stories themselves are often archetypal like many other ancient stories. They talk about language itself that has a healing quality to it. They talk about the benefits of community, of brotherhood and sisterhood.’
One of the main aims of the Project is to provide an opportunity for people to participate in cross-cultural shared activities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people whilst learning about Aboriginal culture. ‘Languages and stories, songs, that heritage is a major denomination in the currency of identity and belonging.’
Kim is two-times winner of the Miles Franklin award and was a shortlisted author for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Hear more about the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project in our video, filmed at the Denmark Festival of Voice.
