Chapter Three of the national Social Justice Report 2009 features a plea for the "preservation" and strengthening of Australian Indigenous languages.
It is a fascinating document in terms of the values it embodies, the rhetoric in its expression (heartfelt but, to my mind, not particularly persuasive, especially when invoking Traditional Knowledge) and the ongoing crises it is seeking to address - both the loss of Indigenous languages (along with Traditional Knowledge) and fundamental problems of alienation, violence, substance abuse and unemployment within Indigenous communities. Just the thing if you're familiar with political gestures, bureaucratic inertia or incapacity, and the surreality of central american magical gothic.
The chapter laments disuse of Indigenous languages in Central Australia and other remote parts of Australia, notes problems with day by day administration of language policies in the states and territories, and questions the level of commitment provided by the national government in implementing the National Indigenous Languages policy announced last year.
It highlights mechanisms that might preserve and strengthen the remaining Indigenous languages, even revive their use ("language reclamation and revitalisation"). Those mechanisms include reference in the national Constitution to Indigenous languages, recognition of Indigenous languages as "national languages" or "official languages", greater funding for teaching in Indigenous languages from kindergartens onwards, more money - but of course - for various academic centres and arts projects, and establishment of a "national language authority" - shades of L'Académie française. Fortunately the recent Indigenous Spirituality report did not propose a national spirituality authority.
Claimed rationales include enhanced "cognitive development in infants", increased employment opportunities for Indigenous people" and the centrality of Indigenous languages to "Indigenous cultural knowledge [which] has assisted scientists in understanding patterns of climate change". Models include Greenland and Algeria, although critics will presumably suggest that the experience of neither is directly transferable to Australia or will provide an acid comment or two on cultural and physical suppression of minorities outside Algiers.
As a government document the chapter is disappointing, relying on assertions and conflating causation with correlation. Efforts to freeze-dry Indigenous languages or cultural expression are unlikely to be successful and the mooted economic/social benefits of tourism in reality are not necessarily founded on remote Indigenous people being proficient in Indigenous languages.
We might indeed be sceptical about assumptions regarding the virtues of what Walter Benn Michaels challenged as a restrictive 'identitarianism' and fuzziness in references to "properly preserved and made accessible appropriately". We might also be sceptical about initiatives such as the 'Indigenous Contemporary Music Action Plan' ("based on principles of flexibility, sustainability and diversity" etc) which will strengthen 'Pride in Identity and Culture through Language Revival' via support for "music in Indigenous languages to increase the transmission of languages across generations to younger speakers".
One contact suggested that channelling a singing cowboy or two doesn't necessarily strengthen Indigenous languages and or culture. Another more cruelly replaced the word 'music' in the Action Plan with the word 'milk' and pointed out that the amendment made sense (milk can "foster reduction in substance abuse; improved community health and cohesion" and governments should "seek to build the profile of milk as a positive factor in helping to address social and economic disadvantage. An enhanced focus on the role of milk in contributing to these broader strategies and outcomes could create greater opportunities for employment and income generation". That's of course a criticism of the language used in corporate strategy statements, rather than a dismissal of the fruit of the cow or what you'd hear if you were listening to an indie band in the Western Desert.
