Page 1704 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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acknowledgement of country in Ngunnawal language. It is a groundbreaking occasion and one that will pave the way for future sitting days.
I would like to acknowledge the elders of the traditional custodians, the Ngunnawal people. I say to you, “yuma”, “hello” in Ngunnawal language. As a member of this Legislative Assembly, I pay my deepest respects to you and I pay my respects to the generations of elders who have come before you. I thank you for your ongoing nurturing of emerging elders so that we may continue to learn from your first nations wisdom and understanding. I thank you for your contribution to the community; for the ongoing education that you provide regarding your language, your land and your culture; and for sharing your experiences of the impacts of racism, colonisation and dispossession. I say to you that I hear you and I am grateful for your voice.
Madam Speaker, this truly is an important occasion. As the Ngunnawal language is spoken in the chamber, we honour and pay our respects to our first nations traditional custodians in a tangible way. We express our yindjamurra, a Ngunnawal word that means more than respect, that is wholesome and all-encompassing in its first nations interpretation, and we acknowledge the ongoing connection of the Ngunnawal people to this land, this special meeting place where clans have met for thousands of years.
As members of the Assembly, we are taking a leadership role in the community by using Ngunnawal language in the chamber, demonstrating actions of reconciliation and recognition on the public record, helping to bring deeper understanding to a wider cross-section of our community.
There are Ngunnawal people still alive today who were held forcibly on the missions in our region and not allowed to speak in language. It was forbidden and they were punished for doing so. It meant that those who were fluent stopped using the language and that it was not passed down to following generations. I can only imagine how significant it is for our local elders to hear Ngunnawal words spoken in this place, and I hope that it goes a small way to repair the hurt and the harm that was done in the past.
We are fortunate that in these times there is a shift and that, across the country, first nation languages are beginning to receive the focus and respect they need. It will, however, continue to be a struggle, as many words have been lost. Some may never be recovered and that is a source of shame. That is what history has done and that is what we must, as much as we can, seek to rectify. This acknowledgement of country in Ngunnawal language is one small way we can help to keep language alive and relevant. It is one small way in which we recognise that connections to language are central to identity and culture.
The ACT Greens developed a reconciliation action plan, and what has occurred today is one of the things we set out to achieve in that plan. The exercise of developing and having a plan has ensured that we stay on track in our reconciliation journey and that we have followed through.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate that you have consulted with Ngunnawal elders and have gracefully, if not somewhat anxiously, undertaken lessons in how to pronounce
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