Indigenous research handover

A cultural atlas and audio archive of sacred indigenous songs and ceremonies will be presented to The University of Queensland today.

The 380-page atlas and a CD of the Yanyuwa people, tracks their life and their land in the southwest of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Three Yanyuwa women will dance to their recorded songs as they make a symbolic handover of the items to UQ’s Fryer Library at St Lucia at 3.30pm.

Two decades ago, the Yanyuwa language was spoken by about 200 people. Now only about five people know it as their native tongue.

Between UQ anthropology lecturer Dr John Bradley and UQ ethnomusicologist Dr Elizabeth Mackinlay, the pair have spent the last 25 years boiling down the culture into an accessible form.

“We’re trying to officially acknowledge the contribution that this community has made to the university and the students,” Dr Bradley said.

The atlas, called Forget About Flinders, contains unique maps, photos and life stories and histories minus some secret ceremonies.

“A lot of younger people up there are actually calling it their bible, because it’s also the heart of all that’s important of their country.”

He said chronicling the Yanyuwa highlighted bigger issues of language and cultural loss.

Hundreds of hours of tape recordings of Yanyuwa song and music will be transferred to about 200 CDs.

The atlas and audio files will be kept in the Fryer Library, although some CDs will be restricted to women only.

A draft of Dr Bradley’s Yanyuwa Wuka: Language from Yanyuwa Country - a Yanyuwa Dictionary and Cultural Resource can be downloaded at http://eprint.uq.edu.au/archive/00000072/01/yanyuwatotal.pdf

There are plans to print the dictionary next year and produce a DVD as the Yanyuwa community releases its own CD and bilingual comic book series.

For more information: Dr John Bradley (phone: 07 3365 2980, email: j.bradley@uq.edu.au), Dr Elizabeth Mackinlay (phone: 07 3365 6712, email: e.mackinlay@uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (phone: 07 3365 2619, email: m.holland@uq.edu.au)