Wadawurrung language: Modewarre

Added by First Languages Australia

Description Wadawurrung country stretches from the mountains to the sea. It includes hills, rivers and grassy plains, creeks and coasts and includes modern towns such as Werribee, Geelong and Ballarat in Victoria.

Since colonisation, white fellas have tried to write down our Wadawurrung language, even though there are no equivalent sounds in English.

We had no written language so early settlers wrote down what they heard using their own language trying to reproduce the sounds.

In this series of short films we correct some of the language spelling of the places we all know and explain the meaning behind our stories.

Language needs a place to live, and this is a chance for us to tell our stories and our language.

Our language is sleeping, but will soon reawaken.

Here we visit Modewarre, now known as Lake Modewarre, near Geelong. It was once a place of great activity and an abundant source of food for the Wadawurrung people. Sadly now, there is no water because of changes made to the waterways for farming and irrigation.

Story: Bryon Powell
Producers: Tammy Gilson & Larissa Romensky
Animation: Stephanie Skinner
Actor: Indigo Harrison

This video was originally contributed to the ABC Open Mother Tongue project, which invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to share a story about their mother tongue.