Dhanggana?! Nēwara Aboriginal Corporation (aka the Anaiwan Language Revival Program) is a nonprofit Aboriginal community organisation based in Armidale NSW committed to the reclamation and revival of Anaiwan language, culture, and history through research and education. Our name, ‘Nēwara’, comes from the Anaiwan word for the New England peppermint tree, and Anaiwan kyuna (country) covers most of the New England Tableland’s southern half, including the Armidale, Uralla, and Walcha areas.
Since starting out in 2016, Nēwara has held the first ever Anaiwan community language workshops, taught language classes at local schools, opened the Anaiwan Language & Research Hub in Armidale, published the award-winning book ‘Surviving New England’ about the history of Aboriginal resistance and resilience on the Tableland during the early colonial period, produced a variety of language teaching and learning resources, held public symposiums, lectures, and commemorations of the New England Frontier Wars, employed the first ever dedicated Anaiwan language worker, started training and providing assistance to local Aboriginal educators to introduce language into schools on Anaiwan country, and begun work on song revitalization. And all almost entirely without government funding!
Anaiwan people today own less than 0.1% of our traditional lands.
Anaiwan kyuna (country) covers nearly half of the New England Tableland, over 10,000 square km....but Anaiwan people today own less than 0.1% of our traditional lands.
So what are we trying to achieve?
Nearly all of Anaiwan country is now ‘private land’ to which we don’t have access, and so much of it has been devastated by almost two centuries of destructive farming and mining. On ‘public land’ like National Parks and Nature Reserves, legislation tells us what we can and can’t do. And patches of country acquired under Land Rights or Native Title legislation are also subject to restrictive legal frameworks. So we’re looking to purchase a bush block which Anaiwan people will own outright, enabling us to be fully self-determining and take care of our country our way.
Dean Widders
“We’re not out there to take land off people like they did to us, but we should have a right to what’s rightfully ours, to do things that are positive, future driven, future focused, things that are going to benefit not only our kids and our generation, but the wider Australian society too.”
- Dean Widders, Anaiwan Educator
Our vision is to have a place where our people can go to revive and practice culture, to revitalize language, and to care for country. We plan for this block of land to be used for cultural camps for Aboriginal kwānga (children) in out-of-home care, on-country Anaiwan language learning, the growing and harvesting of native foods and medicines, gatherings of local Aboriginal men’s and women’s groups, and as a place where our people can come together to sing our songs, dance our dances, and share our stories. This patch of country will become #NyambikaUrala, ‘our home’ for cultural revival, #OurAnaiwanHomeland. Aboriginal land in Aboriginal hands is essential for the survival and revival of our culture and identity. It’s also about us reclaiming our active role as custodians of country and playing our part in the fight against climate change. We’re eager to team up with others in the local community who are committed to caring for country to undertake projects like the reintroduction of traditional burning, native vegetation regeneration, and restoring creek/river health.
What land and what'll it cost?
Our aim is to secure an uncleared (or mostly uncleared) block of 100 acres or more which has access to a river or creek. We’ve already raised $20,000 to start with, and the kind of property we’re looking for will likely cost between $350,000 and $450,000, so we’re calling for donations to raise the rest and help make this dream a reality. If we end up raising more than we need to purchase the property, any surplus funds will be used for works required to set up the place as a hub for cultural revival and for getting started on some of the ‘caring for country’ initiatives mentioned above. And the goal is to purchase the property within 6 months of launching this crowdfunding campaign (i.e. by mid 2022).