Language Classes

Nēwara runs community language classes for Anaiwan people and other Aboriginal people living on Anaiwan Country. We also deliver language programs in local schools. To both facilitate and supplement these community classes and school programs, Nēwara has a growing suite of of high-quality language teaching/learning resources.

Research Projects and Publications

One of Nēwara's major ongoing research projects is the development the first Anaiwan language dictionary and grammar. We have also produced and published a book which has sold 2,000 copies, 'Surviving New England: a history of Aboriginal resistance & resilience through the first forty years of the colonial apocalypse' (winner of a NSW Premier's History Award in 2020). Some of our other research projects centre around song revival, reconstructing the traditional kinship system, and mapping Country.

On-Country Revival of Language and Culture

In 2022, Nēwara ran a successful fundraising campaign which allowed us to buy back a nearly 600 acre block of Anaiwan bushland. This patch of Country, now back in Anaiwan hands, is becoming a hub for on-Country language and cultural revival, the reclamation of our role as custodians of Country (e.g. cultural burning), and healing for our community. It's a place where our people can come together to sing our songs, dance our dances, and share our stories.

Nēwara's work is aimed broadly at undoing the damage inflicted upon our Anaiwan culture, community, and Country by colonization at a local level. Through positive projects, programs, and initiatives centred around reviving language, culture, and tradition here on Anaiwan Country, our goal is to instill pride in identity in current and future generations of Anaiwan people, and to create spaces and opportunities for healing, reconnection, and community capacity building. Although the Anaiwan community is Nēwara's primary focus in terms of the work we do, our efforts also benefit the broader Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community locally.

At the very core of how we operate as an organisation is the principle of Aboriginal self-determination and our overall approach is decolonial in nature. Nēwara was established in 2016 by a meeting of Anaiwan people in Armidale, and our decision-making processes as a group are consensus based.

Nēwara's Board and membership are comprised entirely of Anaiwan people, women and men of different age groups (including Elders) and whom belong to various local Anaiwan family lines. Nēwara operates in a organic and non-hierarchical way, and our decision-making processes are consensus based. Those involved with Nēwara's efforts are not limited to our Board, staff, or formal membership.