News from the ILF
September 2023
Gadigal Country (Sydney), 2023. Indigenous Literacy Day Event.
Image by Wayne Quilliam.
Yamandhu marang Friend,
On 6 September, our Foundation celebrated its biggest and most exciting day of advocacy, Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD). The day celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' stories, cultures and languages. We thank the 302,654 supporters for watching the ILD 15-minute FILM and 45-minute LIVESTREAM, and for your generous donations on this special day.
The ILD FILM takes you on a virtual
journey to three remote Indigenous Communities to celebrate the launch of three books in three different languages; Shordi Krik in Barunga Northern Territory, Country Tells Us When… in Rubibi (Broome) Western Australia, and We Look, We Find in Weipa on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.
For the first time ever, our ILD celebrations from Sydney Opera House with over 50 First Nations primary school students was Livestreamed. The 45-minute LIVESTREAM was hosted by ILF Ambassadors Justine Clarke and Gregg Dreise who reminisced on their PlaySchool days by teaching the audience some dance moves, taught words in Aboriginal languages, and sung songs in English and Kriol. It's not too late to watch the ILD celebrations below.
We would like to thank the Barunga, Rubibi, Napranum and Bidyadanga Communities who were featured in the ILD FILM for sharing their stories with us and inviting us into their Communities. And all the remote Communities we work with for sharing their stories.
As always, a heartfelt thanks to you, for making our relationships with remote Communities possible and for being a valuable supporter on our journey.
Mandaang guwu,
Ben Bowen
Chief Executive Officer
To celebrate UNESCO's second year of the Decade of Indigenous Languages, each month we encourage readers to learn a new word an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander language.
Illustration from Yakanarra Songbook, published by ILF 2016
This month's word is porcupine in
Wiradjuri language!
Porcupine = ganyi
Phonetics: gan-ee
Download the audio version here.
Wiradjuri Country is located in central New South Wales.
Celebrating Indigenous Literacy Day with 300,000 People!
We are so grateful that over 300,000 supporters joined in to celebrate ILD! Learn more about the ILD FILM and LIVESTREAM, check out the media coverage for ILD and find out what the students from Barunga school got up to in their visit to Sydney in the blog here.
A big announcement for
Busking for Change 2024!
We are pleased to announce that Shordi Krik is the Busking for Change 2024 song! Schools across the country will learn to sing the Shordi Krik song in Kriol and English while raising funds for our Foundation next year. Learn more about Busking for Change and register your interest here.
ILF CEO Ben Bowen shares his
connection to Country
ILF CEO Ben Bowen shares his connection to Gadigal/Wangal Country (Rozelle, Sydney). "It’s a place where I grew up, learning from my nan and Community about fishing, harvesting and the seasons" says Ben. Read Ben's feature alongside Latrell Mitchell, Magnolia Maymuru, Narelda Jacobs, Graham Bootsie Thorpe, Ruth Langford, Zaachariaha Fielding, and Alisha Geary in the Qantas magazine here.
Boundless Indigenous Writer's Mentorship
Applications are now open for the 2024 Boundless Indigenous Writer’s Mentorship! If you or someone you know is an unpublished Indigenous writer, have a manuscript in the works and would benefit from a year-long mentorship with a senior Indigenous writer apply now and find out more here.
In my Blood It Runs becomes
a children's book!
Award-winning film, In My Blood It Runs, has been published as a children's book! This important story is about 10-year-old Arrernte and Garawa boy, Dujuan Hoosan. The book shares a story of history, love and resistance. Pre-order your copy here.
The Barramundi Song
in Kunwinjku Language
This month, we received illustrations from Jabiru Area School and Jabiru FaFT for a new Barramundi book we're starting work on in Kunwinjku language. The Barramundi Song is a popular song in playgroups in remote Communities, and when finished, this book will be our fifth language edition!
Tiwi Futures Expo
ILF Programs Manager Tictac and Regional Coordinator Bella attended the Tiwi Futures Expo in Wurrumiyanga this month where we had a stall giving out ILF books to the Tiwi Community. The expo was joined by students who have the chance to meet local employers in a relaxed, familiar environment, and learn about careers that align with their interests.
Pamela Lofts Workshop
We are very excited to be hosting our first Pamela Lofts workshop next month since 2018. The workshop will be held in Sydney with youth from remote Northern Territory and Western Australia who have shown an interest in digital technology, digital art and storytelling.
Dr Debra Dank
A big congratulations to ILF Ambassador Dr Debra Dank who won the Queensland Literary Award for Non-Fiction for her book, We Come with this Place!
Dr Anita Heiss AM
Congratulations to Dr Anita Heiss AM, a play is going to be based on her book Tiddas at the Belvoir St Theatre in 2024! The book is about five women who have been friends since childhood who come together for book club meetings. The season will run from 12-28 January, find our more and purchase tickets here.
We extend our thanks to our Indigenous Literacy Day sponsor Lendlease, who are committed to sharing and celebrating the diversity and richness of stories, cultures and languages.
Thank you to Studio Gilay who supported us with animations for the Indigenous Literacy Day FILM.
We would like to acknowledge our friends over at Better Reading and Better Reading Kids for their continued support and promotion of ILF campaigns and programs throughout the year.
Thinking of writing your will? The ILF has partnered with Safewill to provide our supporters with the ability to write their will for just $80 (half price).
We are indebted to our partner Australia Post for their support with the delivery of Book Supply packs to remote Communities and their ongoing fundraising.
We are very grateful for the support of Readings who ran a match campaign for our Foundation on Indigenous Literacy Day which raised an incredible amount of over $20,000! This will allow us to gift over 2000 culturally relevant books to remote Communities.
We are very grateful for the support of Mindshare who provided over $2 million pro bono advertising support for Busking For Change. Mindshare also dedicated their company-wide Impact Day to celebrate stories, cultures and languages on Indigenous Literacy Day, raising a further $4808 in donations and bringing their total funds raised so far this year to over $7,000!
A special thank you to Accenture (in partnership with Readings) for supporting the ILF for the last couple of years through their First Nations Voices Campaign. The campaign is an opportunity for Accenture to raise funds for the ILF while elevating the voices of First Nations authors and educating their staff about First Nations cultures.
We would like to thank the team at Wishes by Wyndham who have not only spread awareness about the ILF at various resort locations but also raised over $8,000 by encouraging donations and through fundraising activities! We are very grateful for their support.
