Rachel Hagan, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

After nearly 200 years of being silenced, the Nharangga language is preparing for a major return — and into the pockets of anyone with a smart device.

The Nharangga Language Learning App is expected to launch within the next two months, following nearly two years of planning and community consultation led by the Nharangga Aboriginal Progress Association.

Because of brutal colonial practices that restricted First Nations people from speaking their language, Nharangga has only been spoken with single-use words for generations.

But now, with the success of the project, some young people in the community are having the chance to learn Nharangga as a second language from birth.

Nharangga language specialist Tania Wanganeen said language was a significant part of the healing journey for Nhararngga people, and this language app would empower all her community.

“Language connects you back to your Country, your identity, your community and just yourself,” Ms Wanganeen said.

“As proud as we have always been as Nharangga people, there’s been this piece that has been missing, and we just didn’t know what was missing.”

Before colonisation, Nharangga was one of over 250 First Nations languages spoken on this continent, but there were also about 800 different dialects in these language groups.

Today, the Australian Human Rights Commission estimates there are only about 123 of these languages still spoken.

Ms Wanganeen said the first time she got up in front of her community and spoke in fluent language, she saw one of her uncles begin to cry.

“He said that triggered all these memories that just came flooding back that he didn’t realise were there,” she said.

“It’s powerful to see the impact that this does have.”

The new app is only one small, but mighty, part of the language revival process that the Nharangga community has been working on since 2001.

Ms Wanganeen said a lot of work had gone into this wider language project, and in the beginning they had to translate the recordings from old German, to modern German, to English, and then finally back into Nharangga.

In addition to the app, three other major projects are supporting the revival of the Nharangga language: teacher mentoring, a yarning circle and the creation of a Nharangga language database.

Ms Wanganeen said that, because learning a new language was challenging, the teacher mentoring and yarning circle initiatives would remain a key part of the revival effort.

“We only have a handful of speakers who can read and speak the language, but it’s not everyday use and conversational,” she said.

“The yarning circle is about getting them to come in and engage because it’s a hard process trying to get community back in touch with the language — it hasn’t been spoken for about 200 years.

“So it is this re-educating of our community, and saying it’s ok to regain this part of our identity to help with healing.

“It is about getting them in that confidence because they’ve been told for so long it doesn’t exist.”

Life and language stolen

Nharangga Aboriginal Progress Association chair Michael Wanganeen is a member of the Stolen Generations. As a child, he had to be secretly moved between houses to avoid being taken by the government.

His mother was taken away and, like many First Nations women, was forced to work under harsh conditions as a domestic slave.

Mr Wanganeen’s granddaughter Jemika Wanganeen said this is why she becomes upset when it comes to events such as Invasion Day.

“People say ‘get over it’, but I have a grandfather still living who experienced this growing up,” Ms Wanganeen said.

“It’s not actually that long ago and people seem to just forget that.

“But no, it is a really strong part of our history.” This is why both Ms Wanganeen and her grandfather are so passionate about rebuilding their community.

“Regaining your language is sort of a way of breaking those generational curses and getting a piece of your identity back that was taken away so long ago — that stuff is really important,” she said.

Mr Wanganeen said growing up he only learned broken Nharangga because the language was cruelly banned, and any speakers were punished, as a form of enforced assimilation.

“But when we got out of church, we used to say the other words which we were not able to repeat in non-Aboriginal company,” Mr Wanganeen said.

“You had no recourse where you could go to your mother and father to complain to them because they were treated with the same sort of thing.”

This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 15 April 2025.