WATHAURONG INTERACTIVE CD

01 August 2006

Over 2 consecutive cold, blustery Sundays at the end of June, a group of 30 intrepid would be actors from the Wathaurong community made their way to Koornoo (Barwon Heads on the surf coast south of Geelong) to make a short film . We employed a talented young Aboriginal Film Maker named Daniel King to make the film. Daniel is originally from the Awabakal (Newcastle) and Thungguti (Kempsey) peoples. He has been working in the film and television industry for the past 5 years, and as a writer and director, has produced 3 short films and won several awards. Working as Daniels assistant was also a very talented young Aboriginal man named PJ, who is currently working and travelling with the Lano & Woodly Show as the stage director. Both Daniel and PJ were very professional and lots of fun and the community really enjoyed working with them. The film was about a community group going to Koornoo on a camping trip. The kids went looking for shellfish on the reef with the elders, boys went spearfishing, Aunty Betty went fishing for squid off the pier, Aunty Zelda showed the younger ones how to make traditional baskets, Aunty Kerry smoked some eels, the dogs chased seagulls, and of course there were lots of cups of tea, cooking on the open fire and sitting around it singing with Uncle Richie and Aunty Lyn on guitar and Uncle Rocky on his mouth organ. Everyone who was involved in the making of the film had a fantastic time. It was a real community event with people saying it was the best 2 days ever, despite being down at Koornoo at 8am on Sunday morning in very cold and sometimes wet and windy conditions!!! The feeling of community though, warmed everyones heart. The 8 minute film will form the basis of an interactive CD ROM which is currently being produced by a company based in Canberra called Multi Locus Interactive. This CD, together with teachers resources and lesson plans will then be used as a tool for teaching Wathaurong language. The project plans to capture the enthusiasm of young Aboriginal people for computers. The CD will be a mixture of stories, exercises and activities to encourage students of all ages to learn and practice speaking, reading and listening skills in Wathaurong language. There are 7 other language groups from around Australia involved in this project. They are Arabana (Port Augusta SA), Adnyamathanha (Port Augusta SA), Ngaanyatjarra (Warburton-Warakurna WA), Ngangumarta (Port Hedland WA), Ngarinyman (Katherine NT), Paakantji (Wilcannia NSW) and Palawa Kani (TAS). We are now looking forward to getting the finished product, and using it to help teach Wathaurong language to our community.

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