Indigenous voices of Queensland

Indigenous Voices of Queensland is an online resource created to improve public access to audio recordings, held in the Fryer Library, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people speaking Indigenous languages of Queensland. The project aims to make the recordings as openly available as possible so they can be used to assist communities with language recovery and education, and deepen knowledge of First Nations languages.

The recordings were made by three academics: Elwyn Flint, Bruce Rigsby and Bruce Sommer. The original audiocassettes and reel-to-reel tapes have been preserved through digitisation.

Are you from an Indigenous Knowledge Centre, a descendant of a recorded language speaker, or involved in community leadership? Would you like to help make these recordings accessible online? If so, email fryer@library.uq.edu.au to get the process started.

Strengthening and reviving Indigenous languages

The languages featured in Indigenous Voices of Queensland are only a fraction of the total number of languages spoken in Queensland prior to the 1820s. European colonisation has had a devastating effect on First People’s culture. 

According to Community, identity, wellbeing: the report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey (2014), only about 120 of the estimated original 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language groups are still spoken. Only 13 of these language groups have a sufficient number of young people speaking them to sustain the language into the future.

Many communities and individuals are working tirelessly to revive lost or endangered languages in Australia. Indigenous Voices of Queensland aims to make Fryer Library’s collections of heritage language recordings available for easy access by community members and the general public.