Participants from all over Western Australia presented workshops and papers

The WA Language Centres Conference was held with great success from the 10 – 12 June in Northbridge, Perth. Participants travelled from across the state to be warmly welcomed by the Noongar people, who are the traditional owners of the area.

The highlight of the conference was hearing about the fantastic grassroots language work going on in urban and remote communities. Participants also heard about some great projects being carried out by AIATSIS, the Australian National University, and Sydney based company Curious Works.

PHOTOS of the event can be found here http://www.flickr.com/groups/1177193@N22

A more detailed REPORT (written by Sally Dixon) of the conference can be found here: http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/elac/2009/06/news_from_the_wa_language_cent.html 

Kathleen Hubert - Banyjima speaker

1. Congratulations to Nadine Hicks. The Wangka Maya Board of Directors has offered Nadine Hicks the permanent Manager position.

2. The building is slowly being rebuilt. The main building has been cleaned and repainted and the floors have been sealed. Once the airconditioning ducts have been cleaned, we can move back into our old offices. The burnt section of the building has now been cleared out and rebuilding will start soon.

3. Telstra has installed our land lines and we can now use our phones and faxes properly and soon we can be networked for internet too.

4. Eleonora and Kathleen Hubert have continued work on Banyjima. As well as checking the dictionary, they are producing some booklets with audio CDs for Kathleen and her family.

The 2008 AGM took place on the 23rd May 2009. A wonderful turnout produced some new directors, including Raylene Gordon, Lesley Woods, Pauline Bunwarrie and Harry Spratt. They have taken their place alongside existing committee members: Bruce Thomas (Chair), Lorraine Injie (Vice-Chair), Harry Taylor (Treasurer), Trudy Hayes (Secretary), Lizzie Dalgliesh (Director) and Ann Sibosado (Director). The 2009 AGM is scheduled to go ahead as usual at the end of the year. Thanks to all those who were able to attend and make it a GREAT meeting. This AGM was made extra special because it was the first one held in the new building and there were one or two family reunions. 

Muddi and Harry

Mary Anne Jebb and Malcolm Allbrook are in Port Hedland until Thursday 28th May to meet anyone who would like to talk about their history of the Pilbara. Mary Anne and Malcolm are researching the hidden histories of the Pilbara for Wangka Maya. This is a chance for people to change the balance of WHO tells the history of the Pilbara. It is a chance for Pilbara Indigenous people to tell their stories. The stories can be wonderful or tragic (or anything in between) and hopefully this project will establish a proper, ongoing, Hidden History recording project. 

If you want to share your story or want to find out more about the project, contact project coordinator Lesley Woods on 9172 2344 or email Lesley at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hidden Histories researchers Malcolm and Mary Anne with project coordinator Lesley.