Book Review - BINA

Written by: Duncan B. on 16 September 2024

 

 

Bina- First Nations Languages Old and New is a book everybody should read.

At the time of the colonisation of Australia there were around 440 Indigenous languages spoken in Australia. This number was quickly reduced as murder, disease and dispossession wiped out thousands of Indigenous people. The remainder were herded onto missions or government stations where they were forbidden to speak their language under threat of punishment. The children were separated from their parents, making it difficult for parents to pass on their language and culture. Throughout Bina there are many accounts of massacres and ill-treatment of Indigenous people at the hands of station owners, police and government officials.

 

Bina tells the story of this tragic destruction of Indigenous languages and how communities are working to save and preserve their languages and pass them on to future generations. Indigenous and non-Indigenous linguists are combining archival research and field work to discover the vocabulary and grammar of Indigenous languages and record the speech of elders who are the last remaining speakers of a language before it is too late.

 

Thanks to their efforts, Indigenous languages are undergoing a revival with Indigenous languages again being taught in schools and being promoted through both traditional song and dance and modern means such as opera, rock music and rap.

 

Indigenous languages are more than just a means of communication. They embody the speaker’s kinship relations and their relationship to Country and the environment. Precious knowledge of the seasons, food supply, fire management and astronomy would be lost if Indigenous languages become extinct.