We want to sing like our ancestors: The story of Djinama Yilaga
In Reconciliation Australia: An intergenerational Yuin choir is helping to revitalise and renew the Dhurga language – an act that would have seen them thrown in jail only a generation before.
Language rematriation with the Djinama Yilaga choir
ABC listen interview with Djinama Yilaga choir.
Djinama Yilaga choir reclaims once-forbidden Indigenous Dhurga language through song
As a young girl, Walbunja-Ngarigo artist Cheryl Davison wondered why her father could not teach his children their ancestral languages.
It was only years later that she heard the story from her cousins.
Ms Davison's father and uncle would hear their mother and her elders sitting at home speaking Dharawal. But when the kids came into the room, they would stop.
Canberra International Music Festival - Djinama Yilaga Choir
Canberra International Music Festival: Djinama Yilaga is a First Nations Choir from the far south coast of NSW led by Walbunga/Ngarigo artist, Cheryl Davison. Djinama Yilaga is an intergenerational choir who sing stories of their life and culture as they revitalise the dhurga language through song.
National Museum of Australia: Djinama Yilaga
National Museum of Australia story on Djinama Yilaga