Keen to learn language? Local suburb names can be a good start
Not confident using language words? Well start by learning the meanings of your local suburbs and place names. That’s the advice from Uncle Bob Anderson – Quandamooka Elder and one of Queensland’s most recognized Aboriginal statesmen.
Uncle Bob Anderson and his great grandmother Winyeeaba Murriaba Kingal, who was born on Mulgumpin (Moreton Island).
Now in his 94th year, Uncle Bob is delighted that language is front and centre when it comes to being respectful of Indigenous culture.
Language is the voice of the land. People need to be comfortable to use it.
Which is where the place names suggestion comes in.
Explore locally and find out what Aboriginal names there are. Woolloongabba – means swirling water, And Pinkenbah – should really be binkenbah – place of the tortoise. Everywhere you look you see Aboriginal words. That is a great way to begin to understand language.
Like many of his generation, Uncle Bob has survived the times when speaking language meant risking incarceration or separation from family and community.
But he has spent his lifetime working to improve the rights and opportunities for Indigenous people parallel with a distinguished career in the Building Workers’ Industrial Union of Australia.
Along the way he championed youth welfare, social justice, reconciliation and preservation of cultural identity. His work has been recognized at the highest levels throughout Australia, including a Medal of the Order of Australia.
As we sift through photos in his Brisbane home, his image smiles out from photographs alongside dignitaries including South Africa’s first black Prime Minister Nelson Mandela, Irish republican leader Gerry Adams and numerous premiers, mayors and politicians.
But the images of community and family members are the ones that stir the deepest memories.
He points to a picture of his mother and smiles fondly.
“She used to touch me on the cheek and say “millie binung… millie binung”. Translated it literally means eyes and ears. The message for young Bob – watch and listen. “And that’s a good lesson for kids today too,” he concluded.
