Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative

Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative is a language revitalisation centre for Aboriginal Australian languages of a region in New South Wales, situated in Nambucca Heads. In 1986, several elders of the Gumbaynggirr people got together with the aim of reviving their language. In collaboration with linguist and teacher Brother Steve Morelli , they established a plan to to revive the language. First, they found the last remaining recordings of Gumbaynggirr, in order to build up the vocabulary and to create a grammar of the language. In that year, Morelli (nicknamed "Gugs") worked with the group, which included Maggie Morris, and the Gumbaynggirr Language and Culture Group was established in Sherwood. After obtaining funding from the federal government the elders published the first Gumbaynggirr dictionary-grammar, in 1992. A second edition of Gumbaynggirr dictionary and learners grammar was published in 2015. The success of the centre led to growth and expansion. Muurrbay was confirmed as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) in 1997 and started offering language classes. In 2004, it became a regional language centre, adding a further six languages to its offerings. In 2014, the co-op received extra funding for language revitalisation. Muurrbay is a regional language and training centre focused on language revitalisation of seven Aboriginal languages in the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, and Central Coast of New South Wales. It is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), and collaborates with local government and community groups about appropriate use of Indigenous history and names in public spaces. It also develops research programs for documentation and archival of linguistic and cultural materials, and collaborates with universities in other language research. It publishes a variety of materials relating to language, as well as delivering services in linguistics, information technology, and education, including teaching language in local schools. elder Gary Williams is CEO of Muurrbay.