Indigenous Languages
Word of the week: Illawara
08/05/2015
Our word of the week is Illawara.
According to the Survey forms and correspondence received by the Royal Anthropological Society of Australasia regarding Aboriginal place names, 1899-1903, 1921-1926, Illawara means a high place near the sea.
In the lead up to NAIDOC Week 2015, the Indigenous Services Branch of the State Library of NSW will be posting an Indigenous ‘word of the week’ from collection material available on Rediscovering Indigenous Languages Website. This year the NAIDOC Week theme is ‘We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate’. It encourages people to find out more about their local community, and the traditional names for places, rivers and mountains in their area. The State Library’s collections hold significant historical materials that record Aboriginal place names and meanings across Australia.
Clifton, Illawarra-PXE 711 / 573
Please comment any other interesting Indigenous facts or history relating to Illawara
It is important to note that these records were written in most cases about Aboriginal languages by non - Aboriginal people. For this reason, the written word may not accurately reflect the ways in which an oral language was spoken and transmitted.