Enjoy some metal music from the group Awkan!  Awkan is a band founded in 2005. The members are part of the Indigenous Mapuche people of Wallmapu, the lands that today are also known as southern Argentina and Chile. Awkan provides a great example of the movement to incorporate traditional musical instruments and language into genres of music today such as hip hop and heavy metal. You can find a full length album with the link. There are 12 songs and most of them feature the Ma

This week’s learning isn’t from a song, but a way to hear the Kusunda language by listening to sisters separated in life but connected by language comment in their own language on the first ever video of the Kusunda people, what a twist! Kusunda or Kusanda is a language spoken by the Kusunda people in western and central Nepal. There are a few hundred people, perhaps 23 native speakers, and one fluent native speaker; Kamala Sen-Khatri. Kamala is in her 50s and is the younger

Gurridyula Gaba Wunggu is using passion, determination, music and culture to stand against an earth-wrecking mine.   Gurridyula is a leader and spokesperson for Waddananggu, and Waddanganggu is a ceremony on Wangan and Jagalingou Country in Central Queensland, Australia. The word Waddanganggu means ‘the talking’ in the Wirdi language. The song this week doesn’t use traditional language but is fantastic. It comes with a powerful story of belonging, and shows a power in being y

A song to celebrate Māori Language Week by fusing English and te reo Māori by the band Six60! The song is called Pepeha and was released in 2021. Its release was connected to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week). This is a government-sponsored initiative to encourage New Zealanders to promote the use of the Māori language. The word pepeha references a form of self-introduction, where the speaker describes their ancestry and connections to the natural environment. ** R