‘Should have been my birthright’ - the journey to reclaim a lost language
All In The Mind
Jul 04
‘Should have been my birthright’ - the journey to reclaim a lost language
‘Should have been my birthright’ - the journey to reclaim a lost language

All In The Mind
Jul 04
Shownote
Shownote
Languages are so much more than words and sounds — they encode culture and shape
our identity. So how do you connect to your culture, if language is lost?
While many Indigenous languages have already been lost, and more are at risk of
extinction, in Australia, people are increasingly trying to revitalise certain
Indigenous languages.
ABC Radio National presenter and Gamilaraay woman Rudi Bremer is on her own
journey of reconnecting with her mother tongue, and it's bringing up a mixed bag
of feelings — from a profound sense of loss, to deep contentment and belonging.
Guests:
Jade McHughes, PhD candidate and Ngarrindjeri woman
Trinity Clarke, Language worker and Kuku Yalanji woman
Credits:
* Reporter/presenter: Rudi Bremer, Gamilaraay woman
* Presenter/producer: Sana Qadar
* Producer: Kaylene Langford, Guringai woman
* Producer: Rose Kerr
* Senior producer: James Bullen
You can hear more from presenter Rudi Bremer on Word Up
[https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/wordup] and Awaye!
[https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/awaye]
To explore more great episodes from the award-winning psychology podcast All in
the Mind with host Sana Qadar, download the ABC Listen app (Australia) or search
'ABC All in the Mind podcast' wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find
more episodes on mental health, trauma, attachment theory, wellness hacks, and
family relationships. You'll also hear interviews with experts like Esther
Perel, Billy Garvey and Ethan Kross. All in the Mind is created for ABC's Radio
National by specialist journalists and reporters at the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation.
Highlights
Highlights
This podcast explores the deep emotional and cultural journey of reconnecting with lost Indigenous languages. Host Rudi Bremer, a Gamilaraay woman, shares her personal path to learning her mother tongue, revealing how language is far more than words—it is a vessel for identity, kinship, and healing from colonial trauma.
Chapters
Chapters
Discovering the Beauty and Threat of a Mother Tongue
00:00The Pain of Losing Cultural Concepts and Identity
03:12Healing from Colonial Violence Through Language Reclamation
07:09Using Technology and Elders to Revive a Grandmother's Language
14:56Kinship, Responsibility, and the Path to Belonging
21:23Transcript
Transcript
Jade McHughes: ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music and more.
Sana Qadar: From an Ipswich fish and chip shop to the epicentre of Australian politics.
Rudi Bremer: Please explain. Pauline Hanson is making One Nation. This is the unlikely story of One ...