COMMUNITY & REMEMBRANCE
TERM 3
THE IMPORTANCE OF COUNTRY & PLACE
ABORNIGINAL LANGUAGE
Language is extremly important to the Aborniginal peoples. Languages carry cultral knowlage, so the loss of a language means the loss of culture, of Aborniginal people's connections to their ancesteors.
"The important thing about language and what it means is that language contains the essence of our ancestors, every word comes from places and identifies people and links to the land, country, the dreaming: they all inherent in language, therefore it means th people, the land, everything." Yolngu Elder Laurie Baymarrwanga
- Explain the importance of language to the Aboriginal people in your own words.
Language is important to the aboringinals because if they had no language their hole life will disapear and they will be no-bodies.
- use the interactive map to locate and identify the local language group
The local langauge group is called Tharawal
Place Names
The Aboriginal name for Shellharbour has been recorded as both Yerrowah (meeting place), and Wonwin, (place were the big fish were). The Eurpoean name for Shellharbour refers to the large quanities of shells found in Aboriginal middens along the forshore in the early mid 19th century. Due to the mining of the shells in the mid 19th century for the production of lime these vast middens no longer remain.