Handing on the teaching of Kaurna language to Kaurna youth

Abstract

Kaurna, the language of the Adelaide Plains, has been taught now for many years. It was introduced into Kaurna Plains Early Childhood Centre in 1989/90 and Kaurna Plains School in 1992 and has been taught there ever since. It has also been taught in a range of other schools and institutions to children of all ages, adults, members of the Kaurna community and to the public at large. By far the biggest hurdle confronting efforts to implement Kaurna language programs has been finding the teachers. Teaching languages requires special skills, and teaching a language, such as Kaurna, that is being reclaimed from written sources poses additional challenges, not least being the need to learn the language first and to be flexible and creative in developing new words and expressions where needed. It has been especially difficult to find young Kaurna people to take on the teaching. One who has risen to the challenge is Jack Kanya Buckskin, who started out working on Kaurna language projects, which included recording Kaurna words and phrases. He began attending Kaurna language classes at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre, Warriparinga, then taught these classes in 2008 and in 2009 took full responsibility for these and other Kaurna language classes at Kaurna Plains School. This paper reflects on the positives that flow from taking on the teaching role, as well as some of the difficulties faced.