Presentation Type
Presentation
Location
The University of Notre Dame Australia, Broome Campus
88 Guy Street Broome, The Hall NDB10
Start Date
1-4-2026 12:00 PM
End Date
1-4-2026 1:30 PM
Keywords:
Tura
Description
In September 2025, Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre (MWRC), Indigenous Literacy Foundation and Tura released Buga Yanu Junba, a songbook and companion album of 22 original songs in Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Walmajarri, and Kimberley Kriol. But where did these songs come from? This presentation traces their origins in a three-year participatory arts-based research project: a collaboration between early childhood educators at Baya Gawiy Buga Yani Jandu yani U in Fitzroy Crossing, facilitators from the Perth-based cultural development organisation Tura, and a researchermusician from the University of Melbourne as part of Tura's ongoing SoundFX program.
The research pursued two interconnected goals: to increase the number of early childhood songs in local languages, strengthen cultural knowledge among young children, and support intergenerational transmission of knowledge from Elders; and to investigate—through participatory action research and the Most Significant Change methodology—how songwriting in First Languages can support healing and wellbeing for educators, children, and families.
The presentation will include performances by songwriters from Buga Yanu Junba and discuss research findings about the wellbeing affordances of language songwriting and singing through a framework of Aboriginal Ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing (Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003).
The project's distinctive contribution is its focus on early childhood educators—a key cohort for sustaining intergenerational language transmission—and how creative collaboration centring local languages supports wellbeing for all participants alongside language strengthening.
Recommended Citation
Howell, Gillian; Moses, Annika; and Jandu yani U, Educators from Baya Gawiy Buga Yani, "'Buga Yanu Junba: Strengthening First Languages and wellbeing through collaborative songwriting'" (2026). Talking Heads Seminar Series. 1.
https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_talkingheads/2026/Schedule/1
'Buga Yanu Junba: Strengthening First Languages and wellbeing through collaborative songwriting'
The University of Notre Dame Australia, Broome Campus
88 Guy Street Broome, The Hall NDB10
In September 2025, Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre (MWRC), Indigenous Literacy Foundation and Tura released Buga Yanu Junba, a songbook and companion album of 22 original songs in Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Walmajarri, and Kimberley Kriol. But where did these songs come from? This presentation traces their origins in a three-year participatory arts-based research project: a collaboration between early childhood educators at Baya Gawiy Buga Yani Jandu yani U in Fitzroy Crossing, facilitators from the Perth-based cultural development organisation Tura, and a researchermusician from the University of Melbourne as part of Tura's ongoing SoundFX program.
The research pursued two interconnected goals: to increase the number of early childhood songs in local languages, strengthen cultural knowledge among young children, and support intergenerational transmission of knowledge from Elders; and to investigate—through participatory action research and the Most Significant Change methodology—how songwriting in First Languages can support healing and wellbeing for educators, children, and families.
The presentation will include performances by songwriters from Buga Yanu Junba and discuss research findings about the wellbeing affordances of language songwriting and singing through a framework of Aboriginal Ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing (Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003).
The project's distinctive contribution is its focus on early childhood educators—a key cohort for sustaining intergenerational language transmission—and how creative collaboration centring local languages supports wellbeing for all participants alongside language strengthening.
Comments
Light lunch and refreshments @12pm
Opening Address: Emily Carter, CEO of Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre