Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre (MDWg)

The work of the Mirima Dawang Woorlab-gerring Language and Culture Centre (MDWg) began in the 1970s to preserve, analyse, record, document and transmit the language and culture of the Miriwoong and Gajirrabeng people, the original inhabitants of the lands around Kununurra. Our vision is that recording and documenting the traditional language will help our children to grow up with the knowledge and understanding that has been transferred by earlier generations over centuries. The Mirima Language Centre was built in 1991 and has been serving as the central place for Miriwoong language and culture since then. The Gajirrabeng people live side by side with the Miriwoong people and MDWg is actively engaged in the preservation of the Gajirrabeng language as well. Miriwoong is a critically endangered language. There are only a handful of truly fluent speakers who grew up speaking exclusively Miriwoong. They are all elderly and there is a dire need for structured programs which can aid the transmission of Miriwoong to succeeding generations MDWg is located in Kununurra, a town in far northern Western Australia located at the eastern extremity of the Kimberley Region. It is approximately 3200km northeast of Perth and 40 km from the Northern Territory border. It has a population of approximately 6000 people, with almost half of the population being Aboriginal MDWg is the operational arm of the Mirima Council Aboriginal Corporation and is a registered Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) and a Public Benevolent Institution (PBI).