A smartphone game is part of a push to save critically endangered Nyiyaparli in the Pilbara, while an NT radio station helps keep Yolŋu matha strong.
Preston Taylor is deep in the heart of the Pilbara’s largest wetland.
The 12-year-old is on a mission to collect precious cultural items scattered across remote Western Australia, following clues from elders – and he is doing it all from an air-conditioned office in Port Hedland.
Preston is playing Nyiyaparli Widi, a smartphone game.
Full story can be found @guardianaustralia with words by @ellamareemcevoy and photography by @tamati_the_yamaji
I want to paraphrase a bit about something that Kevin Nelson had shared with me while undertaking the interviews as I traveled up north to the Pilbara, when I asked what it was like for him to grow up with the old people he had mentioned. "They (liked to drink)," he said, "but they still took us out and did stuff with us and would work on the tin mines, driving trucks to feed us, too." This part is paraphrased from the audio recording, but it's grounded in truth and shares a bit of the same history. My old people also liked to drink, but they were tough workers on sandalwood trucks and stockmen, who, despite the alcohol, still focused on feeding and housing their families!
