Govt urged to help preserve Indigenous languages
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The artists behind a sold-out play showcasing an Aboriginal language are calling on the Federal Government to preserve Indigenous tongues.
The producer of the play, Ngapartji Ngapartji, says fewer than half of the 300 languages at the time of colonisation are still spoken, and in a generation only 17 will remain in use.
Alex Kelly says valuable cultural and environmental information is embedded in Indigenous languages
"We're going to lose vast amounts of knowledge as well as a country and for communities to be able to run themselves in their own language, to have schools in their own language, actually strengthens people's ability to then learn a second language, being English and participate," she said.
"We're calling on the Government to put a policy in place which looks at the way in which languages are supported right through schools, health system, the justice system, the way in which interpreters programs are funded and the funding which goes into language programs at a community level."
