Reclaiming the Kaurna language: a long and lasting collaboration in an urban setting

Abstract

A long-running collaboration between Kaurna people and linguists in South Australiabegan in 1989 with a songbook. Following annual community workshops and theestablishment of teaching programs, the author embarked on a PhD to research historicalsources and an emerging modern language based on these sources. In response tonumerous requests for names, translations and information, together with Kaurna EldersLewis O’Brien and Alitya Rigney, the author and others formed Kaurna Warra Pintyandi(KWP) in 2002. It is a monthly forum where researchers, and others interested in Kaurnalanguage, can meet with Kaurna people to discuss their concerns. KWP, based at theUniversity of Adelaide, is not incorporated and attendance of meetings is voluntary. Thecommittee has gained a measure of credibility and respect from the Kaurna community,government departments and the public and has recently signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding with the University of Adelaide. However, KWP and the author sit,uneasily at times, at the intersection between the University and the community. Thispaper explores the nature of collaboration between Kaurna people and researchersthrough KWP in the context of reliance on historical documentation, much of which isopen to interpretation. Linguistics provides some of the skills needed for interpretation ofsource materials. This is complemented by knowledge held by Kaurna people that isknown through oral history, spirituality and intuition.*This paper is in the series The Role of Linguists in Indigenous Community Language Programs in Australia, edited by John Henderson.