Song Writing & & Language Translation

Our first song writing and translation workshop was held on a rainy day on 8 October 2022 in the local Anglican Hall; the waterways were in flood and Aunty Beth and Uncle John just made it back to Dubbo before the road was closed due to floodwater.

WHY & HOW?

The song writing workshops are currently funded through private donations, the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust and NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

Local stories of our local mob are captured to create new compositions.

Once the new works are complete the WWA First Nations Children’s/Youth Choir and Dreaming Drifters (youth rock band) learn the pieces.The new songs are recorded and then performed at every opportunity. The song recordings are used as educational resources to grow Wayilwan language reawakening.

Workshops for mob are provided free of charge to ensure inclusive participation.

The intellectual property (IP) rights of the songs remain with local Aboriginal community.

All funds raised through the songs are put back into Wayilwan Language resource development and creative and performing arts education programs. The programs ensure the sustainability of Wayilwan language rewakening.

New works in Wayilwan language are currently being recorded for an album (Sept 2024 -May 2025)

Workshops are held at the Beemunnel when possible and at the Warraan Widji Arts studios. The latest workshops were held in August/September 2024 with youth and Elders.

ELDERS

Elders are remunerated for sharing cultural knowledge. Our first workshops with local Elders focused on a song about the Beemunnel where many of our Elders lived until being forcibly moved into town.

Out of the workshops with the Elders come many stories for many songs.

The songs provide an effective avenue for truth telling and empowerment of our local mob.

CHILDREN & YOUTH

Local youth participate regularly in song writing and language translation workshops. These are opportunities for them to contribute to Wayilwan Language reawakening.

Workshops are held at the Aboriginal Learningn and Engagement Centre at Warren Central School and at the WWA studios.

Two youth song writing workshops have been held in partnership with the Aboriginal Learning and Engagement Centre at Warren Central School.

The Wayilwan translation of our Acknowledgement to Country is being respectfully taught to our local children and youth…

Zoey was the first person to learn our Acknowledgement to Country in Wayilwan Language fluently, without reading it from a printed copy. She achieved this important milestone in 2023 and has set a high standard for others to follow.