In May and August this year, Gillian Howell and project coordinator Annika Moses travelled to the Fitzroy Valley to work with students and teachers at Fitzroy Valley District High School (FVDHS), Bayulu Remote Community School and language educators at Baya Gawiy Buga yani Jandu yani u (Baya Gawiy), part of Marninwarntikura Women's Resource Centre.
Part of this years program focussed on the Baya Gawiy Song project, a three-way research partnership between Marninwantikura Women’s Resource Centre (MWRC), Tura and the University of Melbourne.
Beginning in 2021 and concluding this year, Gillian Howell has facilitated the action research with Baya Gawiy educators as co-researchers. They have explored songwriting as a framework and methodology to support endangered language revitalisation in early childhood education, capacity building of educators, intergenerational knowledge transfer, and wellbeing.
The official research report will be published in early 2024. The songs generated by this action research will be included in a Fitzroy Valley songbook published byIndigenous Literacy Foundation in 2024.
Image 1: Walmajarri songwriter and Baya Gawiy educator Eva Nagoodah working with Gillian Howell to write her song Pujurl
Image 2: Walmajarri songwriter and Bayulu School teacher Irene Bent editing her song Ngurrara People with Gillian Howell
Image 3: Gillian Howell and Annika Moses at Baya Gawiy parents night
Tura acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and create. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. With solidarity and friendship we say thank you.
