The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages (LAAL) is a

digital archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

of literature in

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a "dead lang ...

s of Australia, containing works in over forty

Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

from the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The project to build the archive was initially funded in 2012 by the

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

, and was developed in collaboration with the

Charles Darwin University Charles Darwin University (CDU) is an Australian public university with a main campus in Darwin and eight satellite campuses in some metropolitan and regional areas. It was established in 2003 after the merger of Northern Territory University ...

as the lead institution, the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

and the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. Later partners include the

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE, generally known as Batchelor Institute and formerly known as Batchelor College) provides training and further education, and higher education for Aboriginal Australians and Torres St ...

, the Northern Territory Library and the Northern Territory Catholic Education Office.

Description

LAAL is an online archive of literature in languages of the Northern Territory.

Development

Much of the literature in the archive was originally created as part of

bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The ...

programs in the Northern Territory from the early 1970s, but was in danger of being lost after Federal and Territory governments withdrew financial support for bilingual education. The project to build the archive was initially funded in 2012 by the Australian Research Council and involved the collaboration of the Charles Darwin University as the lead institution, the Northern Territory Government and the Australian National University. The first stage of building the archive was to recover as many of these books as possible (about 4000), to catalogue and digitise these materials, and, with permission from the original creators, make them publicly available online. Following the granting of a second round of funding by the Australian Research Council, the second stage of developing the archive began in 2014, focusing on further "search and rescue" of materials written by Indigenous authors in Northern Territory languages and also on engaging with community members, academics and schools on the use and enhancement of the collection. Later partners include the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, the Northern Territory Library and the Northern Territory Catholic Education Office. The Archive continues to seek contributions of relevant materials from community members and researchers, provided the appropriate permissions are obtained.

Access

All the materials in the Living Archive are publicly available online, and can also be accessed using the LAAL Reader App. One the website, users can find and access the materials by clicking on areas of a map or by browsing a list of locations, languages, authors or books. The materials are made available under a

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence, and ownership of the stories and pictures remains with the Aboriginal language owners, creators of the work and their descendants.

Use

The materials in the archive can be used for a range of purposes. In addition to building the collection, the second stage of developing the archive focuses on engaging with communities, schools, and researchers. This stage aims to find ways of tailoring collections for local use, such as in

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

and

language learning Language acquisition is the process by which humans acquire the capacity to perceive and comprehend language (in other words, gain the ability to be aware of language and to understand it), as well as to produce and use words and sentences t ...

, as well as expanding and improving the collection with community involvement, for example through contributions of new or audio-recorded versions of stories. It also aims to find ways archived materials can be used for classroom activities, for example on traditional knowledge, and seeks to connect students and academics with language authorities for collaborative work.

Languages

, the Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages had materials available in the following languages: * Alawa *

Alyawarr The Alyawarre, also spelt Alyawarr and also known as the Iliaura, are an Aboriginal Australian people, or language group, from the Northern Territory. The Alyawarre are made up of roughly 1,200 associated peoples and actively engage in local tra ...

* Anindilyakwa *

Anmatyerr The Anmatyerr, also spelt Anmatyerre, Anmatjera, Anmatjirra, Amatjere and other variations) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, who speak one of the Upper Arrernte languages. Language Anmatyerr is divided into Easte ...

* Arrarnta, Western * Arrernte, Eastern * Burarra * Dalabon * Dhaŋu *

Dhuwal The Dhuwal are an indigenous Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory Language Dhuwal belongs to the Yolŋu-Matha branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family Country The Dhuwal were described by Norman Tindale in 1974 as one ...

* Djambarrpuyngu (Dhuwal) * Djinaŋ *

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

* Gumatj * Gupapuyŋu * Gurrogoni * Gurindji * Jawoyn * Kaytetye * Kriol * Kunbarlang * Kunwinjku * Maung * Murrinh-Patha * Ndjébbana *

Ngandi The Ngandi were an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. The Ngandji are another tribe, and the two are not to be confused. Country The Ngandi's lands, some 1,500 sq-miles in extent, encompassed the area around the upper Wil ...

* Pintupi-Luritja *

Pitjantjatjara The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...

* Rembarrnga * Ritharrŋu * Tiwi * Warlpiri * Warumungu *

Wubuy Nunggubuyu or Wubuy is an Australian Aboriginal language, the traditional language of the Nunggubuyu people. It is the primary traditional language spoken in the community of Numbulwar in the Northern Territory. The language is classified as s ...

* Yan-nhaŋu *

Yolŋu Matha The Yolngu or Yolŋu () are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. ''Yolngu'' means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, M ...

References

{{Reflist Culture of the Northern Territory Endangered languages projects Australian Aboriginal cultural history Australian Aboriginal languages

Description

Development

Access

Use

Languages

See also

References