Samantha Avitaia, Aunty Carol Dixon, artist Bronwyn Luff, Tammy Small, Aunty Ellen Mundy, Linda Hatcliffe and Emma Stewart at the UOW Vice-Chancellor’s Awards evening. Photo: UOW.
The team behind a learning resource featuring the Djiringanj language has won a prestigious University of Wollongong (UOW) award.
Earlier this month, the members of the Djiringanj community and UOW Bega Valley staff who created the Djiringanj Community Learning Resource were presented with the UOW Vice-Chancellor’s Indigenous Advancement Award.
The learning resource, which is an art, language and cultural resource, began in 2022 from an idea to create an artwork for the entrance of the UOW Bega Valley campus.
Emma Stewart, the campus’s former Indigenous student success advisor, was the driving force to create messaging using the Djiringanj language.
“After developing a strong relationship and having many yarns with Aunty Ellen [Mundy] we realised that there was so much sacred knowledge that Aunt was sharing with us that we needed to do a larger-scale project that shared her cultural knowledge and Djiringanj language, not only with the UOW community but with the Bega Valley,” Ms Stewart said.
“The Aboriginal community are so generous in the amount of knowledge that they’re able to share.
“We were able to partner with an elder of the community as well as local artist Bronwyn Luff to make sure everything was done in a culturally grounded and culturally authentic way.”
The artwork for the campus, titled ‘My Dreaming Track of Knowledge with Community and Elders’, depicts the story and sacred cultural significance of the Bega Valley.
It was reproduced as a door decal covering the entire front window entrance and acts like a leadlight window, allowing the sunlight to filter through.
Aunty Ellen also shared 11 words of the Djiringanj language, which have been featured in a teaching resource and website for the local community to learn more about Djiringanj culture and the significance of Bega.
Aunty Ellen Mundy, artist Bronwyn Luff and Emma Stewart at the UOW Vice-Chancellor’s Awards earlier in August. Photo: UOW.
“We want to encourage Aboriginal students and community to feel safe and comfortable to study at UOW,” Aunty Ellen said.
“Working with UOW Bega is creating meaningful reconciliation and positive change for our community. It has inspired our community to be excited about the future as they can see things moving forward.”
UOW Bega Valley campus manager Samantha Avitaia said the resource was valued by the entire community as previously there were not any Djiringanj local language resources available for public use.
“Individuals, local schools and organisations have since reached out to UOW Bega and received permission to use the Djiringanj artwork and local language resources for school, libraries and community projects,” she said.
UOW says the Indigenous Advancement Award recognises the commitment and valuable contributions of individuals and teams who have achieved outstanding outcomes within the university and beyond in leading and enabling Indigenous Australian advancement.
“The award is a symbol of achievement in fostering an inclusive community environment, actively creating cultural safety for staff and students and building relationships based on respect, reciprocity, responsibility,” UOW says.
The award recipients were Djiringanj community members Aunty Ellen and artist Bronwyn Luff, as well as Ms Stewart, Ms Avitaia and Linda Hatcliffe of the UOW facilities management division.
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