This website was created as a student project for a class on Australian Aboriginal Languages taught by Professor Peter K. Austin in 1998 and is presented here in its original form. Professor Austin is now at the School of Oriental and African Studies and can be contacted by email at pa2 AT soas.ac.uk.




A LANGUAGE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA




picture of our informant map of Australia
Jack Butler, the last native speaker of Jiwarli. The area where Jiwarli was spoken.


Welcome to the Jiwarli webpage!

Jiwarli is an Australian Aboriginal language from Western Australia. In about 1926, the traditional activities of the Jiwarli and their neighbours fell into disuse, and Jack Butler, the last native speaker of Jiwarli, died in April 1986. In circumstances like these, recorded languages are very helpful in understanding more about how cultures worked. There were probably between 250 and 270 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of European invasion. Unfortunately, about 160 are now extinct, and some 70 are severely threatened today. Only around 20 are still considered "strong" at the present time.

This site aims to introduce you to the Jiwarli language, culture and region. You can hear Jiwarli being spoken by the last native speaker, see photos and maps of the area in which it was spoken and much more. We hope that you enjoy learning about Jiwarli, and that through sites like these we can all help reverse the current process of the loss of Australian Aboriginal language and cultural heritage.

CONTINUE



Created: 17th November, 1998