In Indigenous oral societies, words hold knowledge amassed over millennia.

The language contains stories, songs, dances, protocols, family histories and connections. Languages often hold the community’s customary laws that were eroded by colonial policies.

When a language dies, so does the link to the cultural and historical past. Without that crucial connection to linguistic and cultural history, people lose their sense of identity and belonging.

Indigenous Peoples have been observing and talking about their environment since time immemorial. Knowledge held in the language is an invaluable source of information about the history of the natural environment, climate, plants, and animals.

It is an irretrievable body of information. Governments, business, communities, and people all rely in part on Indigenous traditional knowledge and are all impacted when that irreplaceable storehouse of traditional environmental data is lost.

This issue is not limited to Australia; however, Australia is identified globally as one of the most vulnerable native language countries.

Languages carry cultural knowledge, so the loss of a language means the loss of culture, of Aboriginal people’s connection to their ancestors.

Each language that dies is the loss of a cultural treasure.

In turn this loss has the potential to impact on Aboriginal people’s health and well-being.

Research shows that strong culture and identity helps develop resilience.