Gambay - First Languages map

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that the audio and video content on Gambay may contain images and voices of people who have passed on. In some cases community members have asked for their stories to remain public. However, if you come across any material which you feel should be removed for bereavement, please let us know so we can take it down to avoid further community distress.

First Languages Australia is working with regional language centres nationally to develop a map of Australia’s first languages that reflects the names and groupings favoured by community. Teachers’ notes have been compiled to assist teaching about Australia’s first languages across the curriculum.

Language centres have provided maps for their regions to be collated into this interactive map of languages and language families. Some regions have chosen to group related languages in colour to help with the sharing of language resources. The information about each language can be shared using its ‘share’ button.

Gambay has been designed and produced in a way that allows language centres and communities to update information as they require. To date, the language centres listed below have contributed to this map.

If you feel that the way your language is represented needs updating, please contact your local language centre so they can pass on the required changes. Updates can be emailed to us at contact@firstlanguages.org.au with “Gambay update” in the subject link.

If you have video stories about your language that you would like to share through the map, please email us the YouTube or Vimeo links noting which language they should be attached to.

Gambay means “together” in the Butchulla language of the Hervey Bay region in Queensland. The ‘gam’ in Gambay has the same sound as the ‘gam’ in ‘gammon’, and ‘bay’ sounds the same as it does in Australian English. This title has been provided by Joy Bonner, Butchulla Language Program.

Credits

Gambay

• Director/Producer Faith Baisden
• Designer/Developers Ben Foley, Harry Keightley
• Associate Producer Carolyn Barker
• Researchers Bridget Priman, Melinda Holden, Carolyn Barker
• Teacher’s notes Camille Nielsen

First Languages Australia videos

• Director/Producer Faith Baisden
• Associate Producer Carolyn Barker
• Camera/Sound Liz Warning, Youth Worxs, Alden Lyall
• Editor Leah Donovan (JKL edit), Youth Worxs, Liz Warning, Alden Lyall

Additional stories

Supplied by the ABC, language centres and language project teams.

Language data

Contributed by language centres and regional language teams:

Northern Territory

• Centre for Australian Languages and Linguistics - Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education
• Ngukurr Language Centre
• NT Language Support Program – Maningrida
• Aboriginal Resource and Development Services
• Papulu Apparr-Kari
• The Daly Languages Project

Western Australia

• Goldfields Aboriginal Languages Project
• Irra Wangga Language Centre
• Kimberley Language Resource Centre
• Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring
• Noongar Boodjar Waangkiny Language Centre
• Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre

South Australia

• Mobile Language Team

New South Wales/ACT

• Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Cooperative

Tasmania

• Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Inc

Queensland

• Queensland Indigenous Languages Advisory Committee
• Pama Language Centre

Victoria

• Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages

Thanks

First Languages Australia would like to thank the Queensland Indigenous Languages Advisory Committee for sharing the first version of this mapping software.

Gambay uses imagery and mapping software provided by Mapbox. Mapbox supports Gambay and other community projects around the world.

Thanks to AIATSIS for supplying the Austlang codes that link the languages on Gambay to resources in the AIATSIS collection.

Supported through the Australian Government’s Indigenous Languages and Arts program