Israeli professor helps Aboriginal group reclaim lost language

Published: 2 July 2018

Last updated: 5 March 2024

HARRY DARE REMEMBERS how, as a young man travelling around regional Australia in search of his roots, he would feel shame whenever he met an Aboriginal person who could speak in his or her native tongue.

Taken from his family and placed into an orphanage as an infant, Dare never had a chance to know the language of his own people, the Barngarla of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.

"When I was in the boys' home, there were no other Aboriginal people around me, so I didn't have any clue about what I had to do to be Aboriginal," says Dare, who counts himself among the "Stolen Generations" of Aboriginals taken into care under assimilation policies that continued until 1970.

"I was just doing what every other white kid did in the home."

Today, the 64-year-old social worker is making up for lost time. As a member of the Barngarla Language Advisory Committee (BLAC), he's helping to reclaim the language of his forefathers - not just for himself but his community.

FULL STORY Starting from scratch: Aboriginal group reclaims lost language (Al Jazeera)

Photo: Aboriginals are learning Barngarla with the help of professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann (John Power/Al Jazeera)