Aunty Beth Wright, Nate Cobcroft, Aunty Ros Peachey and Uncle John Lane at the For Our Elders Concert 6 August 2023

Our journey…

Wayilwan language had not been spoken in our community for over one hundred years until in 2021, Aunty Beth Wright reconnected to Country , the Country her father belonged to.

Aunty Beth Wright, proud Wayilwan woman and Aboriginal languages teacher, was approved by local mob to teach Wayilwan language at the local TAFE campus in February 2021. 

Warraan Widji Arts was established by a small number of Wayilwan language TAFE (Warren campus) students and supporters in October 2021. We believed that once the TAFE course had been successfully completed it was our responsibility to honour our ancestors, the fluent Wayilwan language speakers, to ensure that the language was passed on to our children and their descendants.

Warren Local Aboriginal Land Council (WLALC), Warren Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), Wayilwan language Certificate III TAFENSW graduates 2023 and Warraan Widji Arts have chosen ‘Wayilwan’ as the spelling used in the Warren community.  

Since 2022 we have shared our Wayilwan language in our preschool, local schools and in the wider community through song, dance, music, art and story telling.

Indi Gale, the late Aunty Thelma Darcy and Charlie Gale at the For Our Elders concert 2023

A bit about the Wayilwan language…

There is no wrong way of spelling the word ‘Wayilwan’ as Wayilwan was not a written language. For the purpose of teaching language, however, phonetically we use the ‘Wayilwan’ spelling.  

The variations of the spelling of the word Wayilwan include: Wailwan, Weilwan, Wailywan, Wilwan, Wallwan, Wailwun, Wilawun, Weilwun, Waal won, Wile wan, Waljwan, Wahoon.

It is also known as Ngiyambaa/Ngiyampaa Wayilwan.

The word Ngiyambaa/Ngiyampaa means Language or Country.

Wayil means ‘no/not’ in Wayil-wan language. The -wan relates to ‘buwan’ meaning ‘having’. As such the word is translated as ‘not-having’. In the context of the Wayilwan language the ‘no/not’ means that there is ‘no/not’ breath in any of the sounds used in Wayilwan language.

There are 14 letter/sounds in the Wayilwan language, all lower case. These include 11 consonants and 3 vowels.

When speaking Aboriginal languages it is preferable that an Aboriginal accent is used.

Wayilwan language tutors/teachers ensure Wayilwan language is used and spoken respectfully and appropriately in the context of Wayilwan language syntax and grammatical rules.  

 Acknowledgement: Aunty Beth Wright

Koda Mackay, Roman Kentwell, Uncle Kevin ‘Sooty’ Welsh, Makai Ebsworth and Charlie Gale at the For Our Elders concert 2023