Current Projects

Howitt and the Wotjobaluk People in the late 19th Century

Howitt and Fison carried out some of the earliest anthropological research in Australia and left extensive archival materials on language, kinship, and social organisation. The records they kept reflect the cultural expertise of Aboriginal informants. The word lists, detailed information about kinship and social relations, traditional stories and songs, some recorded in original languages are […]

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Mother Tongue Project

Mother Tongue our Birth Right Mother Tongue’ Project was developed following my PhD research. It is a language revitalisation project that is focussing on grammar rebuilding and immersion learning methods across creative cultural expression. The Project approach draws on a long line of cultural tradition founded in the practice of Wangan Ngootyoong, a personalised cultural

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Schools Digital Resources Project

VACL is pleased to announce the commencement of a new project to produce innovative digital audio-visual resources to support language reclamation and revitalisation activities in Victorian schools and communities. The project will be undertaken in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI), Traditional Owner Groups and three schools currently teaching Aboriginal Languages as

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Annual Shearwater Festival 2016

The Shearwaters are celebrated as symbols of local and global interconnectedness. This year, the Shearwater Festival focussed on ‘Connecting to Country’ providing opportunities to learn about Aboriginal culture and the environment and to develop a deeper understanding of place. The festival took place on 25, 26 and 27 of November in various locations across Phillip

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Annual Shearwater Festival 2015

The Boon Wurrung word for the short-tailed shearwater is Biyadin. The bird is also known as Yolla, Muttonbird, Moonbird and Ardenna Tenuirostris. The shearwaters have deep cultural significance for the Boon Wurrung people, having brought the community together for thousands of years for feasts, gatherings and ceremonies, on what is now called Phillip Island. The

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Annual Shearwater Festival 2014

One million shearwaters have their rookeries on Phillip Island and they fly 15,000 kilometres in their annual migration from Bass Strait in the Southern Ocean to the Bering Sea in the Northern Pacific. The short-tailed shearwater is celebrated as a symbol of creative, cultural and environmental interconnectedness. The third Shearwater Festival held on Phillip Island

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Annual Shearwater Festival 2013

On Saturday 23rd November 2013, at the Woolamai Surf Life Saving Club, the second Shearwater Festival was held, bringing the community together to celebrate the return of the shearwater birds. The gathering included musicians, school children, sound artists, acoustic ecologists and members of the Aboriginal community, including linguists, Elders and Traditional Owners. The Shearwater Soundfest

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