Kanyirninpa Wangka Nantirrpa

The Fulcrum Fund exists to support community-led projects in First Nations communities across Australia. We invest a percentage of all our income into the Fund, and are always on the look out for projects that enhance quality of life, or enable cultural practice, or deliver justice for Aboriginal people.

Most recently, we made a donation to Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa , a Martu organisation committed to delivering cultural, environmental and social initiatives that preserve Martu’s rich cultural identity. Language sits at the heart of cultural practice and personal identity and we were delighted to support the production of a set of resources to facilitate the teaching of Martu languages and cultural knowledge.

585 sets of flashcards, posters, charts and booklets and audio files were developed to be used in Martu playgroups, local schools and with at-risk youth during trips on Country.

KJ shared this story with us about the project:

Heather Samson, a Martu elder who contributed to the resources, asked to use the draft set of alphabet flashcards to lead a lesson about literacy in Martu language to a class of young Martu children who usually only learn in English at school. As she began to introduce the flashcards, the room buzzed with enthusiasm. Heather’s wealth of knowledge shone through as she patiently went through each letter of the Martu alphabet and its corresponding flashcard, explaining the orthographic differences between Martu language and English and encouraging the students to speak aloud the sounds and words from the flashcards. She effortlessly wove tales of the cultural significance of each word featured on the flashcards, from animal names to the ways traditional tools were used. Through this simple but profound lesson, the students not only learned about their language but also discovered a deeper sense of pride in their cultural heritage.

Thank you to the Fremantle Foundation for facilitating the payment of the donation.