North Queensland Regional

Aboriginal Corporation Lan-

guage Centre held their Annual

General Meeting on the 14th of

December at the Serbian Cul-

tural Centre in Cairns.

There was a lot of interest

shown in the future direction of

the organisation, plus a lot of

questions asked.

During the Annual General

Meeting, Cilla Pryor was in-

stalled back to her position on

the board unopposed, and we

also welcome our newest edi-

ton to the board Adrena Pryor

who was appointed unopposed.

As the year 2014 is beginning

the board and staff all look for-

ward to a huge year ahead.

At present NQRACLC is going

through a number of changes

and new directions for the or-

ganisation. There are many of

ideas being thrashed around as

we have had new staff come on

board.

Some of the new directions that

are being thought of and imple-

mented as this are written in-

clude the major one, being a

new website. Other ideas that

are being thrown around incude

open days for NQRACLC,

smart phone and tablet apps and

monthly newsletters, mailing

lists, workshops and much more

to be announced in the near

future.

As technology is changing al-

most on a daily basis, we as an

organisation need to embrace

this, find and develop new ways

to engage our youth to learning

and preserve our culture and

language into the future.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE!!!!

Board of Directors as of

NQRACLC Annual General

Meeting held on December

14

AGM 2013

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

AGM 1

AWME 2

New Staff 2

Profiles 3

Kuku

Djankan

3

Photos 5

Gurrumul 6

New Directions

N O R T H Q U E E N S L A N D

R E G I O N A L A B O R I G I N A L

C O R P O R A T I O N L A N G U A G E

C E N T R E Blackfella Talk J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

State Library

Language Work-

shops February

24-26, 2014

WiPC:E 2014

World Indige-

nous Peoples

Conference on

Education held

May 19-24 in

Honolulu, Ha-

waii.

‘One World,

Many Languages’.

AILA World

Congress 2014,

10-15 August, in

Brisbane

P A G E 2

"The real meaning of

the spoken word has

to be demonstrated

by practical deeds."

~ Nelson Mandela in

an address to the

French National

Assembly, Bourbon

Palace, Paris, France,

7 June 1990

New Staff

Australasian World Music Expo

Happy New Year 2014 On behalf of the Board of

Directors and Staff of the

North Queensland Regional

Aboriginal Corporation Lan-

guage Centre, we hope that

all of our members and read-

ers of this newsletter have

had a happy and safe festive

season.

We hope that you got to

spend it with family and loved

ones, that it was merry and all

done responsibly.

But as 2014 is starting for

everyone, we here at the

North Queensland Aboriginal

Corporation Language Centre

have a huge new year coming

up. Some of the new things

that are coming about in 2014

for us are a new website,

Facebook page, Workshops,

Language Summits and so

much more.

We will have more announce-

ments to be made as the year

goes on.

It is going to be a absolutely

huge year for us here. We

also hope that you are part of

it all as we move forward into

2014 and beyond. We con-

tinually look forward to

working for and with each

and everyone of you as the

year progresses.

Be safe, enjoy, do it all re-

sponsibly and most of all just

remember to make it home

to your loved ones.

One behalf of the board of

Directors and staff of the

North Queensland Aboriginal

Corporation Language Cen-

tre, we hope that your new

year’s resolutions all come

of a lifetime, and a chance to

learn some knowledge from

the people that hold it all.

Whilst there highlights in-

cluded meeting the very

lovely Ellie Lovegrove and her

mum Kerri, further to that

the one and only Archie

Roach, plus many of other

singers, managers, events

Back in November

the Australiasian

World Music Expo

happened in Mel-

bourne and we were

there to attend. On

behalf of the Lan-

guage Centre we

sent Dianne and

Mark down for what

was the experience

directors and so much more.

Out of AWME we learnt so

much from Bush Recording of

music, to running and promo-

tions of organisations, lan-

guage in music and how its

used in today's day and age.

Stay tuned for more about

this in the future.

Graham.

They both bring exceptional

skills, experiences, ideas and

so much more to our team.

More to that they will help

shape the the future direc-

tions of the organisation.

Dianne is a is a descendant of

the Burrarra and Kuku

Nyungkul people. Throughout

her career she has worked in

mainstream, public and pri-

vate sectors. During that time

Dianne has filled many of

roles including Administra-

tion, Customer Service, Em-

ployment Consultancy, and

Mentoring/Support fields.

Mark Graham brings a vast

experience from the media, in

Regional and Metropolitan

Markets, many of years of

community roles and experi-

ences, plus many skills in writ-

ing, photography, mc, dj, tech-

nician and much more.

When you call into the office

of the North Queensland

Regional Aboriginal Corpora-

tion Language Centre or drop

by our offices, you may either

hear a couple of new voices,

or see a couple of new faces.

In recent months our staff

numbers have grown to in-

clude a Language Support

Officer and a Media Officer.

We are inviting you to meet

Dianne Ross-Kelly and Mark

Dianne

Ross-Kelly

with Ellie

Lovegrove

B L A C K F E L L A T A L K

Kuku Djankan back on the map

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 1

As part of our workshop sessions

that happen across the region,

Kuku Djankan recently held one of

their workshops. Kuku Djankan

covers the areas of

Dimbulah, Mount

Mulligan, and Kon-

daparinga which is

all west of Mareeba.

Throughout the

workshop that

lasted for 5 days, there was so

much pride in being on country,

learning language, and being with

family taking all the experiences in.

During the workshops the mob

learnt about kinship terms, struc-

turing sentences in language, the

translations from from Kuku

Djankan back to English. Also

during the workshop there was a

look to the future to being able to

keep learning language and

strengthening knowledge of lan-

guage.

If your group is interested in

learning language and the support

that is offered from the

NQRACLC, simply call or email

our office.

ployed at Telstra as a Field Tech-

nician. 2009 Mark commenced his

Degree in Business Management at

Batchelor Institute and is about to

complete it through Deakin Uni-

versity where going from a degree

in Business options were put in

front of him to change to a Bache-

lor of arts majoring in Journalism

and Business. Throughout Mark’s

career he has worked as a Tutor/

lecturer, Radio DJ, Journalist,

Born in Townsville, Mark started

his career in radio in 1997 with

Bumma Bippera Media. He has

studied at Batchelor Institute of

Indigenous Tertiary Education in

Northern Territory and graduated

in 2001 with a diploma in Radio

Broadcasting and Journalism. From

2000 - 04 he worked at the Na-

tional Indigenous Radio Service

and at 4AAA Murri Country in

Brisbane. 2004 - 07 he was em-

Technician, Band/

singer Manager,

Events organiser. At

the end of the day

Mark is a jack of all

trades and master of

none. If you have pho-

tos or stories for

consideration for our

next newsletter, contact

me in the office.

ment Consultancy, and Men-

toring/Support fields. Her aims

for the future are to be able to

help give language back to the

mob to empower our future

generations.

Some of the Government De-

partments and organisations

that Dianne has worked for

includes Depart of Social Se-

curity better known as Centre-

link today, Wet Tropics, Cape

York Land Council, Douglas

Shire Council, Cape York Pen-

insular Development Associa-

tion, and Cairns Regional

CDEP just to name a few.

Dianne will be a face that you

will all get to know as your

groups want to run language

workshops or as you drop by

our offices.

Dianne was born in Mossman,

grew up there, and also in

Cairns. She is a descendant of

the Burrarra and Kuku Nyung-

kul people.

Throughout her career she has

worked in mainstream, public

and private sectors. During that

time Dianne has filled many of

roles including Administration,

Customer Service, Employ-

Uncle Ron

Archer

teaching

Kuku

Djankan in

a recent

workshop

Dianne Ross-Kelly (Language Support Officer)

Mark Graham (Media Officer)

Action from the 2013 Laura

Aboriginal Dance Festival.

Hopevale Dancers.

“….if our

languages were

like animals under

threat of

extinction there

would be global

outcry” - Lester

Irabinna Rigney,

Assoc. Professor,

writing on

Indigenous

languages (FATSIL

Newsletter,

March 2002, p. 9).

.

Out & About

Troy Wyles-Whelan and Jenny Warrack talking on the Blackstar Radio Network Breakfast

Show.. Tranby College Staff come to NQRACLC Office.

Palm Island wins Malcolm Bishop Cup. Yarrabah Seahawks win Mossman All Blacks Car-

nival in a Golden Point thriller.

Local Cairns identity Billy Lee Long comes and stops by the office and sees first hand what

we are all about. Yasuhori Hayashi from the Aboriginal Resource and Development Ser-

vices stopped by our office.

Out & About (cont.)

(Clockwise from Top Middle)

Meeting with members Robert

and Phyllis Grant about poten-

tial workshops.

Adrena Pryor our newest

member of the Board of Direc-

tors

Meeting about a potential Gir-

ramaygan Language with

Marcia and Sandy.

Kuku Djankan Language

Workshops held on country at

Wangu.

develop greater personal skills,

and deliver meaningful and rele-

vant opportunities - helping to

find pride and place as future

leaders in their communities.

Building on the strength of tradi-

tional culture, artistic skill and

love of sport, Gurrumul’s foun-

dation looks to support programs

in these areas over a sustained

Named at the top of the Australian Fi-

nancial Review’s Cultural Power list,

Gurrumul Yunupingu has officially

launched the Gurrumul Yunupingu

Foundation.

Gurrumul Yunupingu is an internation-

ally recognised singer/songwriter/multi-

instrumentalist who is a powerful role

model for young Indigenous people.

Adding to a long list of incredible career

achievements, he has now fostered the

development of a foundation that will

continue supporting a legacy of Aborigi-

nal knowledge, achievement and oppor-

tunity.

The Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation’s

vision is to provide indigenous youth

(particularly those in remote communi-

ties) with opportunities to participate

and achieve success. It will fulfill its

goals through supporting activities that

target young people, assisting them to

discover and build on their strengths,

period of time.

The Foundation was conceived by

Gurrumul while overseas in early

2012.

The first pledge of support for the

Foundation has come from Delta

Goodrem, musicians of the Sydney

Symphony and Gurrumul himself

who collaborated to perform and re-

cord ‘Bayini Live’ on ‘The Voice’

earlier this year. The single ‘Bayini

Live’ was the first top five hit ever in

an Indigenous language and all pro-

ceeds from downloads are donated to

the Gurrumul Yunupingu Founda-

tion.

The Gurrumul Yunupingu Founda-

tion is planning launch activities to

be held around Australia in early

2014 but is now open for business

and welcoming founding philan-

thropic supporters.

NQRACLC was formally incorporated in

2006, after having operated under the aus-

pices of the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation

for many years. The work being carried out

by the language centre includes workshops to

record speakers of various languages, and

training community members in the use of

appropriate technology and equipment for

their projects.

“Language is the expression of our culture

and land.

You can not have one without the others.

We can not describe our culture and our land

if we do not have our language.”

73 Greenslopes Street

Edge Hill, CAIRNS

Po Box 266N

North Cairns, QLD 4870

Phone: (07) 40 534 698

Fax: (07) 40 323 017

E-mail:

languagesupport.nqraclc@bigpond.com

North Queensland Regional Aboriginal

Corporation Language Centre

GURRUMUL TOPS CULTURAL POWER LIST: UNVEILS THE GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU FOUNDATION

Gurrumul live on stage at the

Inaugural Boomerang Festival

in Byron Bay October 4-6,

2013.

Were soon to be on the

web!

nqraclc.com.au

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

(Please Print) Name: ______________________________________

Address: ______________________________________

____________________Post Code: __________

Date of Birth: ____/____/____

Phone: Work: ( )_______________ Home: ( )________________

Please nominate which tribal group you associate yourself with: (must be within the NQRACLC geo-graphical area) _______________________________________________________________ I declare that I am an Aboriginal person with traditional affiliations within the N.Q.R.A.C.L.C. region and that I am over the age of 18 years and hereby apply for membership of the North Queensland Regional Aboriginal Corporation Languages Centre and pledge to abide by the Rules of the Association. ___________________________ ___________________________ Applicants’ Signature Print Name Here ______________________________ ___________________ Witness Signature Date

OFFICE USE ONLY

Date of Board Meeting: ____/____/____ Date of Data Entry: ____/____/____

Approved: Yes No Entered by: ________________

Chairperson Signature:

____________________________

NQRACLC would like to thank and acknowledge our funding body.

Plus the following partnerships.