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Maratja's Story

Maratja talking about value in Yolŋu life

Ŋarrany dhuwal nawi Maratja Dhamarrandji, Galiwin’kuwuy, ga yän nhakun marŋgi ŋarra translation, interpreting, djäma li ga translation, interpreting, ga some people think bitjan that nhakun translating, interpreting it’s the same, but it’s different, märr barrkuwatj mandany ya’ balanya. I here am Maratja Dhamarra?dji from Galiwin’ku, and well, I know about translation and interpreting, I work on translation and interpreting, and some people think that translating and interpreting are the same thing, but they’re quite different, you see.
Ga the reason why I come here, is balanya nhakun nhawi, cos nhawi sometimes ŋarrany li inviting nhawuŋur schoolŋur, ga nhawi nhakun walal ŋuli teachersthu mala ŋäŋ’thun people like nhawi mala, Melanie Wilkinson, ŋunhi ŋayi nhawi, nhä nhanŋu position? Regional linguist, ŋayi napurruny waŋa, ga nhawi napurru ŋuli take part nhawiŋur schoolŋur ga, ga guŋga’yun ŋarra walalany ga And the reason why I came here is because you see, sometimes I am invited by the school (Shepherdson College), you see the teachers invite me there, and people like Melanie Wilkinson – what’s her position? – Regional linguist, she asked for us, and we take part (in the work) at school and I help them,
I’ve sat in waŋgany meetingŋur, nhakun school councilŋur, and we’ve been talking about yolŋu maths, ga yän nhakun ŋarra interested, ya’ balanya in the welfare of djamarrkuli’, nhakun Yolŋu mala djamarrkuli, nhaltjan walal dhu ga ŋuthan nhakun, going through schools nhakun, ŋayi nhakun English-tja ga Yolŋu matha important, ŋunhi walala schoolŋur wo curriculumŋur, wo nhäŋur, it’s very nhakun nhawi manymak ga guŋga’yunamirr. I’ve sat in one meeting of the school council, and we’ve been talking about Yolŋu maths, and so I’m interested, you see, in the welfare of the young people, Yolŋu young people, how will they grow up, like going through schools, English and Yolŋu matha are both important, in the school, in the curriculum or wherever, it’s very good and helpful.
Especially ŋunhi walal dhu djamarrkuli’ marŋgithirr ga, nhakun, nhawi, ya’ balanya, dharaŋan walal dhu, idea mala nhakun, idea, concepts, Yolŋu world view ga balanda world view, nhäma ga nhä ŋayi nhawinydja, wanha ŋayi ga ŋorra nhawi, nhawi ya’ balanya people have to take pride in what nhawi ga marŋgithirr, ya’ balanya, walalaŋ nhakun, nhä ŋayi, Especially for the children’s learning, for example they will be able to understand the ideas, the concepts, the Yolŋu world view and the balanda world view, they will see, where it lies, you see people have to take pride in what they are learning, of their own, you see, what it is.
I use this word nhakun miŋurrmirr, miŋurrmirr nhakun value, ya’ balanya value in education, talk about nhakun absolutes ga relativity, ya’ balanya yäna nhakun marŋgithirr, bili system dhiyaŋ bala ga operating, ŋayi ga balanda way of doing things, balanda way of maths, all the time, ga ŋunhi walalaŋ valuemirr miŋurrmirr ŋunhiyi, what about yolŋuny? I use this word miŋurrmirr, miŋurrmirr is like the English notion of value, like the value in education, talking about absolutes and relativity, yes, you see, like learning, because the system operating today is the balanda way of doing things, the balanda way of maths all the time, and their system of value, their miŋurrmirr, what about Yolŋu?
Yolŋuw nhawi understanding of world view, wanha manda? ga is there, ŋarraku quest nhakun, challenge, is there any, wanhami manda ga dhol-bunanhamirr ga wanha mandaŋ difference ga ŋorra, märr ga understand ŋunhiyi, ŋunhi ga two experiences mandany, balancing, wiripu ŋunhi yäku balance mala, ya’ balanya, In the Yolŋu understanding of world view, where are they both? Is there, this is my quest, my challenge, where do they meet? And where do their differences lie? So we can understand that, two different experiences, balancing, that’s another word, balances, you see…
ga ŋarraku nhakun reason ŋarra räli marrtji is to marŋgithi bulu because ŋarra dhu marŋgithi not only for ŋarrakuwuy, so that, ŋarra dhu become yindi yäku or whatever, yaka that’s not my aim, yaka ŋarraku idea, my idea guyaŋanyawuy is so that I can go back and feed into, feed input, gurrupan back into the schoollil märr yolŋu will have a manymak education… And my reason for coming here is to learn more, because I want to learn not only for myself, so that I can become important or whatever, no, that’s not my aim, not my idea, my idea in my thinking is so that I can go back and feed back, give input into the school so the Yolŋu will have a good education.
nhakun waŋganydja nhawi why is djamarrkuli so many drop-outs? Not even walal ga maths nhäma, manymakkum, mathematics nhakun, ya’ balanya wanhami limurr nhakun dhu guŋga’yun yolŋuny walalany, märr ga walal dhu become manymak achievers, ya’ balanya, achieve, wanha ga value ŋorra? Yolkal goŋŋur? Balandawal world view wo Yolŋu world view? Is there difference mandany or how does Yolŋu world view maths? How do balanda see maths? Wanha ŋunhi ga manapanmirr? Ga guŋga’yunmirr? For example why are there so many young people school dropouts? They can’t even see maths properly, so in maths for example, where do we help those Yolŋu? So they will become good achievers, you see, they can achieve – where does the value lie? In whose hands? In the Balanda world view or the Yolŋu world view? Is there a difference between the two, or how does the Yolŋu world view maths? How do Balanda see maths? Where do they come together? And help each other?