Language Culture and the Future: The Bachelor of Indigenous Language and Linguistics program at ACIKE, its significance and implications.

The Australian Center for Indigenous Knowledges and Education (ACIKE) was established as a joint commitment by the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (BIITE) and Charles Darwin University (CDU) to further opportunities in Higher Education in the areas of Aboriginal Knowledges for both Indigenous and non-indigenous students with a significant focus on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) students from the regional and remote areas. Among other courses within the domain of Aboriginal Knowledges, the Bachelor of Indigenous Language and Linguistics (BILL) holds particular significance for the languages, cultures and identities of Aboriginal Australia and can play a critical role in the contexts of reclamation, revival, acquisition and promotion of aboriginal languages.
ACIKE in general and the BILL program in particular could mark the beginning of a renaissance of Aboriginal higher education with a crucial focus on the Indigenous languages and cultures. This stream of study enables its key stake holders and others interested in linguistics and aboriginal languages to comprehend the links between the past and the present of the aboriginal language landscape and realizing opportunities for the future. From a cultural perspective this is an opportunity to rediscover, strengthen and maintain the identities of the aboriginal people thus enabling and ownership and empowerment. Within the social domain, this is another opportunity to bridge the extensive educational gap that separates the aboriginal students from the mainstream students, thus enabling the enhancement of social equity. From an economic point of view, it provides the scope for improved academic and professional practices and culturally and socially vital employment. This paper draws attention to the extremely critical need for active participation and constructive contributions of Aboriginal academics and students in breathing life into this crucial endeavor, thus creating their place and their ownership of the present and building the future while upholding the values and heritage of the Aboriginal past of Australia.