Reflections on NAIDOC Week and language

This NAIDOC week, it's been a pleasure and privilege to witness First Nations artists gather to share songs and stories, as it is any other time of the year.
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As I'm about to visit Hong Kong for the first time since 2013 and will be presenting at a forum hosted by the Centre for Community Cultural Development, I've taken the opportunity to learn how to give an Acknowledgement of Country in Cantonese.

I was born in Hong Kong and migrated to Australia with my family when I was three years old. Despite speaking Cantonese with my parents at home and attending many years of Chinese school on weekends (both in Cantonese and Mandarin), my Cantonese speaking skills are semi-fluent at best, and my reading and writing skills very limited.

Luckily, I was able to draw on SBS Australia's "Acknowledgement of Country in your language" resource, where you can read and listen to examples of an Acknowledgement of Country in over forty languages. The Cantonese words are unfamiliar to me and I stumbled over them a lot at first, but it's getting smoother as I practice. Seeing the amazing work being done around the country to preserve and revitalise Indigenous languages is a daily reminder that being multilingual is a gift, not to be taken for granted.

On that note, I'd like to recommend an album that's been on repeat for me since it came out last month: Dobby's "Warrangu; River Story". It's an incredible piece of music and creative documentation of cultural knowledge that's a joy to listen to - give it a spin.