Indigenous Bible Translations Underway

Two translators share their personal stories of what it is like to bring God’s Word into their own heart languages – for the first time.

More than half of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Christians.* Only one Indigenous language in Australia, Kriol, has a full Bible translation. The vast majority of First Nations brothers and sisters in Christ do not have God’s Word in their heart language. That’s a precious gift so many of us simply take for granted. While 22 Indigenous languages have at least one complete Old or New Testament book, there are about 120 Indigenous languages spoken in Australia today. Bridging this gap in access to Scripture is why Bible Society Australia remains intent on backing translations in Indigenous languages. NEW PUBLICATIONS FOR THE ADNYAMATHANHA Recently, the Adnyamathanha people – from the northern Flinders Ranges in South Australia – had a breakthrough. A hymn book of church songs, a children’s book and CD, God’s Story for the Outback were all published in Adnyamathanha for the first time. Critical to both was sole translator Lily Neville. “Once you put your mind to it, you can really translate anything into Adnyamathanha,” says Lily, who grew up speaking it with her parents. A lifetime church goer, Lily feels a sense of pride about being able to put Christian resources into her people’s own words. “I find it easy to translate anything. I do my best. I travel by the grace of the Lord and that’s how I’m getting that work done.”

TRANSLATIONS IN THE NYOONGAR LANGUAGE More translation work is coming Lily’s way, now she is known for doing it. Having done the song book and kids book, Lily is confident in her skills, something Tom Little – an elder of the Bindjareb/Bibbulmun people – also has developed into a powerful tool for God’s work. Little says that since God’s Word began to be translated into the Nyoongar language (from southwest Western Australia), two books have been completed. The first, the Gospel of Luke, took about 20 years due to the “exhaustive process” of language work that “became the template for later translations.” The second biblical Nyoongar text was the book of Ruth, which Little completed single-handedly last year – in just four months. “I was extremely lucky that about 98 per cent of the language I needed for Ruth was already embedded in Luke,” Little says. “I’m working on the Sermon on the Mount at the moment – Matthew chapters 5 to 7,” reveals Little, adding that Bible Society Australia has got behind this translation. “I will go back and finish Matthew completely. Then, I want to go back to the top and start again.”

WATCH

Nyoongar speakers Dena Gower , Tom Little, Kerry-Ann Winmar (pictured left to right) at the audio recording of Ruth that took place in Western Australia in November 2019. Adnyamathanha translator Lily Neville holding the Adnyamathanha Hymn book (‘Tyurtya Udiapinha’) and children’s Scripture engagement resource ‘God’s Story for the Outback.’