Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are advised that information in this story may be culturally sensitive for some individuals and communities. 

Robert Mailhammer, a professor of linguistics at 91����, has been documenting the 91���� languages of the Northern Territory’s Croker Island for the past 15 years. 

As there are few people still alive who can speak the island’s traditional languages, Mailhammer began his research by studying old recordings of spoken Amurdak, a language thought to be extinct. However, on his first visit to Croker Island, in western Arnhem land, he met some elders who could still speak the language, although it had not been used in many years. He was able to work with these people, most of whom have now passed away. 

While documenting Amurdak, Mailhammer received an ARC grant to also research Aboriginal English on the island.  

“It seemed that everyone was speaking their own version of English,” he says. “My background is in historical linguistics, looking at how language has changed, particularly under influence from other languages.”  

In 2013, Mailhammer began a long-term collaboration with Dr Patrick Caudal, a linguist from the University of Paris, in France, who at the time was researching languages of Western Australia’s Pilbara region. 

“We were both fascinated by the nuances of 91���� Australian languages,” recalls Caudal. The pair began to research Iwaidja — one of the main languages on Croker Island — and had their first joint field trip in 2013. 

“Iwaidja proved to be a perfect laboratory in which to make new discoveries. Together, we have created novel experimental tools for eliciting data in the field — in particular, building a substantial videoclip database, a method which has now been used for well over 15 under-studied languages,” says Caudal. 

Mailhammer also worked with the ARDS Aboriginal Corporation on the Iwaidja language documentation project, then-Language & Resources Manager, Emma Murphy, says their involvement began as part of a health promotion project, helping people create resources in their own languages.  

She adds that towards the end of the project, families, school workers and others were keen to continue to strengthen local languages through resource development. “People want the next generations to be hearing, speaking, reading and writing their heritage languages, and they worry when this isn’t happening,” says Murphy. 

“The project was a continuation of other great work by elders, linguists and ethnobotanists over many years,” she adds. “Rob Mailhammer is one such linguist with a long history doing this work, and it was great to have the opportunity to partner with Western for this project.”  

Over the years working on Iwaidja, Mailhammer became aware of the importance of the language to convey cultural information, such as kinship terms that can’t be translated. An understanding of the culture and language has been important at Mamaruni, the school on Croker Island. 

Under the culture of the island “people belong to different groups, which is something teachers need to understand. Brothers and sisters at a certain age are no longer allowed to talk to each other or be in close proximity’” he says. “Because the concept of kinship is much broader than it is in western societies, you might have ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ who aren’t related by blood. If schoolteachers put them at the same desk, for example, it causes them huge discomfort.”  

To help address issues like this, Mailhammer ran workshops on the language and culture for new teachers with little background knowledge. “We have also involved the community, where elders explain the significance of kinship groups to the kids,” he says.  

It has been a success, but continuity remains a problem — with teachers moving on every few years, there is no one to take on this training over the long term, and running it relies on the willingness of the principal and availability of elders. 

Heleana Yarrngu, a former teacher and 91���� woman from Croker Island, worked with Mailhammer on a project to use Kunwinjku, another of the island’s 91���� languages, to teach maths. 

“Switching to languages that supported learning was more friendly and we could communicate a lot easier than by just using English,” says Yarrngu. 

“Using a mother-tongue at the beginning of lessons to explain what we are going to learn would support better outcomes in two-way learning. Having a relationship in our first language and then being able to communicate, supports both the 91���� teacher and the students to learn better,” she says.  

In the future, Mailhammer would like to start a bilingual programme at the school with funding for a teacher in 91���� language.