The Tissue And The Loss Of Aboriginal Culture

"[When a language dies] what is primarily lost is the expression of a unique vision of what it means to be human," said David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales in the United Kingdom, and author of the book Language Death.

The loss, and in some cases extinction, of the many Aboriginal languages happened steadily over the years due to the relatively few remaining people who spoke the dialects and a lack of recordings that would have helped with the language preservation. Before the European colonisation of Australia there existed around 250 Aboriginal languages with 600 dialects spoken. There are approximately only 60 Aboriginal languages considered to be ‘healthy’ and used as a first tongue today. It’s through

Through their own feelings of superiority and fear, the government demanded that the common language to be spoken would be English which brought about linguicide of most Aboriginal languages. By supressing the Aboriginal people from speaking their mother tongue caused many of the Aboriginal languages to decrease as they were only spoken in secret or died out altogether. Glottophagy occurred in some regions due to the death of an entire population (i.e. genocide from the colonisation of Tasmania) as the last native speakers of the dialects of the area were lost so too was the knowledge and traditions that they practiced. The government were also able to bring about linguicide of the Aboriginal language as the Aboriginal people were fearful of the repercussions if caught speaking their mother tongue. The government wanted the Aboriginal community to believe that they would be better off if they learned a more socially acceptable or popular language so they could have access to better community and economic opportunities. The elders became fearful that their children would be held back and would not be able to progress with education or fit into the new white man’s society. It was seen that if you spoke a tribal language you represented a lower social class. The government also used bribery of money and food stuffs along with poverty of the rural areas to

By preventing these children from staying with their extended families they are not able to maintain connection to culture. Racism is another factor of language loss where non-aboriginal people believe they are more superior or they have anxiety or even fear towards Aboriginal people. This ignorance prevents non-Aboriginal people to understand or accept the Aboriginal culture causing prejudice. This ignorance builds barriers preventing Aboriginal people to enjoy dignity and equality and makes them want to discard their own family histories and knowledge.

Incarceration is another issue that is impacting modern Australia. In 2016 28% of people in Australian adult prisons were Aboriginal while 48% of juveniles in custody were Aboriginal children. These figures are increasing yearly. Form many, incarceration means they are housed far away from their community preventing family from visiting. Being incarcerated can instil a shame within that person and has a powerful effect on mental and physical health. This often impacts the person’s want to identify as Aboriginal and continued practice of