Pangkupirri: A short sand story, Elizabeth Ellis

In 2012-2013 a group of Ngaanyatjarra and Ngaanyatjarra language speakers from the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in Western Australia recorded traditional verbal arts and sand stories.

Even in Australian Indigenous communities where traditional spoken languages are still relatively strong, these special forms of communication are highly endangered.

This is one of four films from the Western Desert Verbal Arts Project funded by:
ELDP (Endangered Languages Documentation Programme) Small Grant SG0187.
Australian Research Council – DE120100720
Australian Research Council – DP110102767


The films were produced by team members Elizabeth Marrkilyi Ellis, Inge Kral (ANU) and Jennifer Green (University of Melbourne).