The Warramiri website: applying an alternative Yolŋu epistemology to digital development

Abstract

The intergenerational transmission of traditional language and culture is at the core of Yolŋu Indigenous knowledge practices. The homeland of Gäwa in remote Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, was established by Warramiri clan kinship networks to provide an appropriate place for this crucial role to continue. Technologies have long played a part in this transmission process, but can databases, websites and other digital storage mediums harmonise with existing Yolŋu epistemological and ontological frameworks? In considering an alternative approach to digital development, we rely on the Yolŋu elements of performative epistemology, multiple perspectives and a fundamental, narrative base. We then apply this approach to the construction of the ‘Warramiri website’ (2011–2015) which houses and structures various resources, outlining its applicability to the current educational practices at Gäwa.