Journal articles on the topic 'Jukun language'

This paper explored the cultural and linguistic aspects of health exchanges between healthcare practitioners and patients among the Jukuns of Wukari in Nigeria, within the health centres in the town. It focused on patient-healthcare-provider dynamics and found out how language and culture influenced healthcare communication within formal settings. Integrating ethnographic, sociolinguistic, and anthropological approaches, the study unveiled how language and culture impacted interactions and health-seeking behaviours in these centres. It revealed the roles of language and culture in understanding health information, healthcare provider-patient exchanges, and treatment adherence within the distinct sociolinguistic context of the Jukun. Using such qualitative techniques as interviews and observations in the health centres, the study captured the intricate verbal and nonverbal communication, specific cultural discourse patterns, and communication strategies used by patients and healthcare practitioners. Findings highlighted diverse cultural and linguistic methods employed by Jukuns, such as using proverbs, ironies, metaphors, and nonverbal cues, to express themselves in healthcare settings. The research showed that these methods could facilitate communication with familiar practitioners but might complicate interactions with those from different ethnic backgrounds. Ultimately, it offered crucial perspectives for refining healthcare provision, aligning with the precise linguistic and cultural contexts of the Jukun community within formal healthcare settings in Wukari and other parts of Jukunland. Based on the foregoing, the researchers recommended that health practitioners should make use of interpreters and familiarise themselves with the cultural and linguistic norms of their immediate communities for effective health discourse that would enhance quality healthcare delivery.

This research highlights the efficacy of community-based language planning initiatives in ethnic conflict and violence prevention. As a threshold which elucidates how linguistic measures can help to prevent inter-ethnic violence, the research illustrates that where ethnic safeguarding reaches the extremity of violence, language issues are found to have covert but very strong causal roles as manifested in the ethnic violent conflicts affecting Nigeria’s Middle-Belt including the Berom/Afizere/Anaguta versus Hausa/Fulani; Taroh versus Hausa/Fulani (Plateau State); Tiv versus Etulo (Benue State); Tiv versus Jukun (Benue and Taraba States); and Jukun versus Kuteb (Taraba State). Paired t-test values set at a confidence interval of 95 per cent indicate that the statistical mean differences (1.60 in Tiv/Jukun and 9.60 in the Jos area) are close to the true difference occurrences in the randomly sampled populations. More significant are the two tailed P values of 0.5895 (Tiv/Jukun) showing low bilingualism; and 0.3477 (Jos area) depicting more acute bilingualism decline associated with the ethnic violence. The research then considers the application of linguistic measures vital to prevent ethnic violence. In particular, critiqued aspects of the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scales (EGIDS) are recommended to ethnic communities, voluntary organisations and governments for implementation in dealing with violent conflicts.

Predicted and actual errors are a major concern to language scholars particularly contrastive analysts who argue that possible areas of difficulties for the learners of a second language can be predicted and thereof emphasized to ensure proficiency. It is on this premise that this paper seeks to investigate predicted and actual phonological errors of Jukun learners of English and a second language. The paper adopts the arguments of psychological learning theories of transfer and interference as cited by Corder (1986) and Adegbite (2009) on negative transfer from MTto L2. It identifies possible causes of these errors among the learners and the specific English phonemes that they find difficult to articulate. The paper is motivated by the learners' communicative performance both within and outside classroom setting. Data /findings from the study reveal that most of the predicted errors actually manifest in the phonology of some Jukun English language users. And that these errors are due to some extent at least, to mother- tongue influence, nonexistence of certain English phonemes in Jukun among others. The paper concludes that, in spite of the above, we cannot generalize the issue of mother tongue interference because even among the learners we still find a very great range of proficient users of Standard English Phonemes.

This paper examines the role of language in inter-ethnic crisis with a focus on the Tiv and Jukun ethnic crisis. The qualitative method which involves collection and analysis of primary data was employed to carry out the study. The study revealed that uses of inflammable terms like: “Atswake”, “Atswa”, “Adenkankan”, “Hondobeegai”, Tor mbaayie”, Mbasoonayalave” by members of the language (groups) in conflict contribute to crisis in the society. The work also uncovered that a lot still needs to be done to forestall ethnic crisis between the two speech communities and to eliminate the consequential effects this problem has been posing as it relatesto ethnic consciousness. Based on information from the study, the recommendation is that seminars and workshops on the need for peaceful co-existence between the Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups need to be organized from time to time

This study examined the varieties of the Jukun language with the aim of determining whether a Standard variety actually exists as claimed. The paper carried out a comparative analysis of four varieties spoken in and around Wukari local Government area, drawing data from the Ibadan Four Hundred (400) Word list of Basic Items. The data was collected from native speakers of the language. The essence of the comparative work was to discover the similarities and differences that exist among the dialects. At the end of the study, it was discovered that although mutual intelligibility exists among the dialects, most of them varied in terms of word use and their meanings. The conclusion drawn was that there was no standard variety. This study recommends that for a standard dialect to be chosen, measures should be taken to design orthographies for the dialect most widely spoken and speakers of that variety encourage others to accept it.

The study examined the Effects of Educational Field Trips on Social Studies Students’ Academic Achievement in Junior Secondary Schools in Kaduna State, Nigeria. The design of the study was the non-equivalent pre-test post-test control group type of quasi experiment. The population of the study consisted of junior secondary school students in Zaria Education Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria numbering 26,322. Also, 120 students were purposively sampled from JSSII in the following schools: Government Junior Secondary School Tudun-Jukun, Zaria, Government Junior Secondary School, Awai, Government Junior Secondary School, Aba and Government Junior Secondary School Muchiya, Sabon-Gari. The data collection instrument was Social Studies Achievement Test (SOSAT). The content and construct validity was ascertained by experts in Social Studies, language and test and measurement. The reliability coefficient index power of the instrument stood at 0.81 determined using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC). The data analysis tools were mean and standard deviation used in answering the question posed while t-test independent samples was used in testing the null hypothesis postulated at 0.05 alpha. The study found that there exist significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores of students taught Social Studies using educational field trip (experimental) and those who were taught with lecture method (control). In the light of the foregoing, the study recommended that teachers in the Kaduna State should be encouraged to adopt educational field trip in teaching Social Studies in order to enhance students’ academic achievement.

The private juku (cram school) industry is an enormously profitable and influential area of education in Japan, including in the specific field of English language teaching (ELT). However, while much research has been carried out in other areas of ELT in Japan, juku have largely escaped the attention of researchers. This paper attempts to argue the need for more research into English language education as it is practiced in juku. The article first situates juku within the Japanese education system, and then illustrates the extent to which juku have been under-researched when compared to other ELT contexts in Japan. The author advocates the need for more research into ELT to be carried out in juku, and finally suggests some areas into which this research could be conducted. 学習塾産業は大きなビジネスであり、日本の英語教育に大きな影響を与えている。ところが、高校や大学などでの英語教育に関する研究は多くなされているが、学習塾での英語教育の研究はされていない。本論では、初めに、学習塾の現状を説明し、次に、どれだけ学習塾の英語教育の研究が不足しているか説明する。最後に、学習塾の英語教育の研究の必要性を訴え、より多くの研究がこの分野で行われるべきであると論じる。

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar las operaciones de traslado de Chronique d’un discours schizophrène, una novela autobiográfica de Nejia Zemni, a un constructo dramatúrgico como es Junun, propuesta dramática y escénica de Jalila Baccar y Fadhel Jaïbi.The aim of this article is to analyze the transfer operations of Chronique d’un discours schizophrène, an autobiographic novel by Nejia Zemni, to a dramaturgical construct such as Junun, a dramatic and scenic proposal by Jalila Bacar andFadhel Jaïbi.

Eesti kirjakeeles on viis vastandavat sidesõna: aga,kuid,ent,kuna ja vaid. Sidesõnu aga,kuid ja ent on peetud sünonüümideks. Tegelikult on aga üldvastandav sidesõna, mida on võimalik kasutada nii kontrastiivse (Mari on virk,aga Juku laisk) kui ka ootusvastase vastanduse puhul (Sajab,aga me lähme jalutama). Erinevalt teistest vastandavatest sidesõnadest on sidesõnal aga ka konnektiivpartikli omadusi –ta ei pruugi paikneda lause algul (Mari on virk,Juku aga laisk). Sidesõnad kuid ja enton mõlemad ootusvastast vastandust markeerivad sidesõnad (Sajab,kuid/ent me lähme jalutama), aga ent esineb keskmiselt seitse korda vähem kui kuid, kusjuures tema põhiliseks kasutusvaldkonnaks on ilukirjandus. Kontrastiivset vastandust võib markeerida ka kuna, kuid harva. Tänapäeval on kuna kasutusel ennekõike kausaalse sidesõnana. Korrigeeriva vastanduse markerina on üldlevinud vaid(Ma ei söö mitte saia,vaid leiba), sidesõnade aga,kuid ja ent kasutus on võimalik peamiselt siis, kui korrektsioonile lisandub mööndus (Saia ma ei söö,aga/kuid/ent leiba küll).

Jan Banning’s “Comfort Women” Portraits: the Analysis of Gaze using Visual Grammar Methods. Jan Banning is a Dutch photographer who created works of Indonesian Comfort Women portraits. The term of Comfort Women that leads to victim who were experienced sexual violence during the Japanese colonialism. This term is better known in Indonesia as jugun ianfu. Jan, as the creator of the works, describes the women by focusing on their faces. 4 out of 18 photos were recorded and chosen for further analysis – especially on the eyes gaze. This research aims to analyze further on the meaning of their eyes gaze and the surroundings as the form of people’s expressions. This expression can be analyzed by using visual grammatical methods therefore it will reveal a meaning which wants to be conveyed by the subject-’comfort women’. In using this method, interpersonal metafunction is used as an effort to show the interpersonal relationship. Interpersonal metafunction is then divided into two discussions which are representation-interaction and modality aspects. The discussion of these aspects have a similar pattern between one photo and another. Even so, the similarity of existing patterns cannot influence the meaning from the subject themself, because those meanings can also be generated from the visual signs that are created. The results of the study showed the interaction, proximity of the subject to the observer. ABSTRAKJan Banning adalah seorang fotografer asal Belanda yang menciptakan karya berupa foto potret dengan tema comfort women di Indonesia. Comfortwomen memiliki pengertian yang mengarah kepada istilah perempuan yang mengalami kekerasan seksual pada masa penjajahan Jepang, istilah ini di Indonesia lebih dikenal dengan sebutan jugun ianfu. Adapun pengertian fotografi potret merupakan sebuah bentuk visual yang mendeskripsikan potret seseorang. Jan selaku pencipta karya mendeskripsikan potret jugun ianfu tersebut dengan memfokuskannya pada area wajah. Sebanyak 4 dari 18 foto yang dibukukan oleh Jan telah dipilih untuk dianalisis lebih lanjut mengenai wajah khususnya tatapan mata. Di mana tatapan mata dan sekelilingnya adalah bentuk pengekspresian dari diri seseorang. Ekspresi ini dapat dianalisis dengan menggunakan metode gramatika visual sehingga terungkapnya sebuah makna atau pesan interaktif yang ingin disampaikan oleh subjek jugun ianfu. Dalam penggunaan metode gramatika visual tersebut, metafungsi interpersonal pun digunakan sebagai bentuk upaya untuk menunjukkan hubungan interpersonal. Metafungsi interpersonal kemudian dibagi menjadi dua bahasan, yaitu aspek representasi-interaksi dan aspek modalitas. Bahasan di dalamnya memiliki pola yang serupa antara foto satu dengan foto yang lainnya. Meski begitu, kesamaan pola yang ada tidak dapat mempengaruhi makna atau pesan dari subjek itu sendiri, karena makna atau pesan juga dapat dihasilkan dari adanya tanda-tanda visual yang tercipta.

Resumo O poeta Max Martins (1926-2009) estabeleceu em sua obra diálogos intensos com outras culturas, particularmente com a da Ásia. Já a assinatura dos seus poemas, que lembra um ideograma/logogram, aponta para uma síntese minimalista de toda obra como uma construção poética entre o Ocidente e o Oriente - este último compreendido como construção discursiva de inúmeras Ásias. Nosso artigo parte da obra de Max Martins, no contexto da poesia moderna, e da obra do grupo Sankai Juku (fundado 1975), no contexto da dança teatral Butoh, que teve o seu início na segunda metade do século XX, a fim de encontrar e ressaltar o ponto de convergência no movimento minimalista da linguagem artística dos corpos, na poesia e na dança-teatro. A interpretação comparativa visa significar a linguagem artística do espaço em branco e o preenchimento à tinta preta no papel, na poesia, e os corpos brancos em um fundo escuro de um palco construído e adaptado à materialidade/corporalidade no Butoh.

The poem book of Balahindang Sakumpul Sapalimbayan by Iberamsyah Barbary contains local cultural elements of the Banjar community in South Borneo; that reflects the daily life of the Banjar people as a character and identity in the poetic form that different from other ethnic groups. The objectives of this study are to describe the language, the livelihood system, the system of living equipment and technology, the religious system, the social organization system in the poetry book, the semiotic code in the Balahindang Sakumpul Sapalimbayan poem by Iberamsyah Barbary. This research uses an anthroposemiotic approach. The type of research is library research It applies a descriptive analysis method. The researcher takes the data source from the Book of Poetry Balahindang Sakumpul Sapalimbayan by Iberamsyah Barbary published by the Yayasan Kamar Sastra in 2014. The data collection applies text observation and documentation techniques. The data analysis technique of this research is descriptive. The results of this study are as follows: (1) It uses the Banjar Pahuluan language with denotation and the domination of vocal sound vowels such as a, i, and u. (2) the livelihood of Banjar people are farming and trading, (3) the living equipment systems that the Banjar people use are as follows: Ironwood logging, jukung, gumba, house, kindai, bungkalang, and lanting. (4) The religious system of Banjar people comprises tapung tawar, hakikat, makrifat, sharia, faith, and tauhid. (5) system of a social organization described is wife and king and (6) The use of semiotic codes includes the puzzle code, symbolic code, connotative code, and cultural code.

To make essay scoring more manageable, Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) programs have been developed and widely used in China. It makes immediate feedback possible and helps students do self-revision instantly. This study attempts to explore the influences exerted by automated scoring feedback on students writing revision and analyze their revision process. with Juku. Pigai AWE system as an example, the research involves 45 non-English major students in Northwestern Polytechnical University and adopts their writing samples to build a small corpus. With careful study of their modification process and detailed analysis of their writing, the results shows that apart from providing holistic ideas on the article, Pigai system provides a specific review from 6 aspects as well. Besides, students can actively respond to the feedbacks and constantly revise their writing according to the feedback points, but mostly in technical details, morphemes, words, and phrases, short sentences. Online modification expands knowledge input, reduces language errors, improves students’ writing quality, and effectively promotes autonomous learning in students’ interaction with machines. However, limitations existed as well, such as lack of effective feedback on the content. Finally, the researcher proposed a “four-step” writing and evaluation model for future improvement.

With the political stability, economic growth and cultural revitalisation of Japan after its unification by Tokugawa Ieyasu, the educational infrastructure also grew to meet new literacy demands. Governmental schools endowed by the shogunate (Shōheikō) and by the domains (hankō), which catered to the upper military class of the samurai, focused on classical Chinese studies, particularly the Neo-Confucian canon taught in kanbun, a style of classical Chinese. Given the prestige of Neo-Confucian Chinese learning and of the kanbun writing style, these were taught also in temple schools (terakoya) and private academies (juku) that were open to the lower classes, thus contributing to the spread of this particular type of literacy. However, Chinese learning in these schools often involved memorising rather than reading, both because of educational traditions and socio-ideological factors, and also because of the sheer difficulty of reading kanbun, a de facto foreign language. The present article investigates the contrasting implications of Neo-Confucian learning and of the kanbun writing style for the development of education and literacy in Japanese society: while the prestige of Chinese learning contributed to the demand for and development of educational facilities, its complexity also acted as an obstacle to the development of widespread functional literacy.

Entrance exams at the university level in Japan contain a particular type of English vocabulary known as “juken-eigo,” which is specifically employed in entrance examinations and has--in some cases--no other practical application. It has been noted that such juken-eigo vocabulary is comprised of high-level words that are not even included in junior and senior high school (JSH) English textbooks. This study undertakes (1) to scrutinize the language used in the Examination of the National Center for University Entrance (Center exams) and the entrance exams administered by the individual universities (University exams) and (2) to discover how the language compares with the vocabulary to which students are introduced in JSH textbooks. Because Japan's Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture revises its Course of Study guidelines approximately every ten years, exams from 1988, 1998, and 2004 were chosen to be used as samples for the study. The authors reviewed three Center exams and 48 University exams that had been administered during those years and they made quantitative/qualitative observations about the juken-eigo vocabulary. To fulfill the study, the changes in the characteristics of juken-eigo vocabulary were observed, by year, from the following five aspects: (1) the total number of words (types and tokens) used in Center and in University examinations, respectively; (2) the coverage of JSH English textbook vocabulary for individual Center and University exams; (3) the vocabulary level of Center and University exams with respect to the level presented in JSH English texts, then compared to the high-frequency words of the British National Corpus (BNC); (4) the number of outstanding juken-eigo words in the University examinations, as identified from available usage statistics and compared with the high-frequency words of the BNC; and (5) the scope of the vocabulary used in the University exams compared with the coverage of the related JSH textbooks, with regard to seven practical applications in spoken English and in written English, respectively. The study reveals that students are expected to be familiar with more words every year and that there are a higher percentage of juken-eigo words appearing in the individual University exams than in the Center exams. This study data prove that the juken-eigo vocabulary used in University exams is, in fact, above the level taught in JSH English textbooks, while the vocabulary used in the Center exams is very nearly appropriate for students who have just graduated from a senior high school in Japan. The authors discuss the implications of those findings and of the data collected when the vocabulary in respective entrance exams was compared with the high-frequency words of the BNC. Although there is some controversy over the esoteric nature of some of the words used in the vocabulary of University exams, it is important to note that, as time passes, the words deemed to be a part of the juken-eigo vocabulary are more in line with current events and practical spoken applications than are the words presented in the standard JSH textbook vocabulary. The fact is that if the public's increasing demand for practical communicative English language ability is taken into account, a student's modest vocabulary can be supplemented with much of the juken-eigo vocabulary such as that used in the University exams. During the study, it was noted that the level of usability exhibited in the "exam vocabulary" has increased, slightly--in both spoken and written English. It is the authors' contention, however, that students can be better prepared for the entrance examinations if the level of vocabulary used in the University exams was brought more into line with what students actually study when they are in school. This study provides valuable information and basic data, which can provide a solid foundation for the important discussion about what an entrance examination should be. 日本の大学入試英語問題の英語は｢受験英語｣と呼ばれ、大学に入るための特殊な英語であると一般には考えられる。またその語彙の難易度は、文部（科学）省の学習指導要領に基づく中高英語教科書語彙のそれを超えて、難しすぎるのではないかと言われる。そこで本研究は、大学入試英語問題全体に使用される英語語彙の難易度と有用性を、1980年代以降を３年代に分けて定量的・定質的に調査し検証することを目的とした。調査分析は、（1）異語数と延べ語数、（2）中高英語教科書語彙によるカバー率、（3）British National Corpusを基準尺度にした語彙レベル、（4）特徴語の抽出、（5）音声英語と文字英語の各７分野に対するカバー率の測定、という５項目で実施した。結果からは、共通一次・センター試験問題語彙の難易度はほぼ適切であるのに対し、個別大学入試英語問題語彙のそれは高すぎることが確認された。一方、個別大学入試英語問題語彙の有用性は高いことが判明した。

Kirjoituksen matka kirjoittajan työpöydältä painettuun Virittäjään on pitkä, ja prosessiin osallistuu useita ihmisiä. Ennen julkaistavaksi hyväksymistä kaikki Virittäjän artikkelit ja katsaukset vertaisarvioidaan, ja hyvin suuri osa kirjoituksista käy läpi useamman vertaisarviointikierroksen. Tieteellinen arviointi ei kuitenkaan jää tähän, vaan tiedeyhteisö arvioi kirjoitukset myös ja ennen kaikkea niiden julkaisemisen jälkeen. Kirjoituksen tie hyväksymisestä valmiiseen, julkaistavaan versioon on niin ikään monivaiheinen. Kun vastaava toimittaja on toimittanut jutun, se siirtyy toimitussihteerille taitettavaksi. Toimitussihteeri ja vastaava toimittaja oikolukevat taittovedoksen, minkä jälkeen kirjoittajalta pyydetään tarvittavia viimeisiä täydennyksiä ja tarkennuksia. Lopuksi kirjoitus oikoluetaan vielä kertaalleen. Jokainen kirjoitus käy siis läpi useita työvaiheita, joiden aikana sitä luetaan tarkalla silmällä ja tarvittaessa kirjoittajan kanssa hieman hiotaan, jotta tutkimustulokset pääsevät esiin parhaalla mahdollisella tavalla. Varsinaisia teemanumeroita lukuun ottamatta lehteä ei erityisesti koota temaattisiksi kokonaisuuksiksi, vaan kirjoitusten julkaisuaikataulu perustuu niiden saapumisjärjestykseen ja toisaalta refereeprosessin etenemiseen. Toisinaan kuitenkin käy niin, että julkaisuvuorossa olevat tekstit asettuvat keskustelemaan keskenään soljuvasti. Käsillä olevan numeron kirjoituksia yhdistävät esimerkiksi sosiolingvistinen kielen muutoksen ja variaation tutkimus, kvantitatiiviset menetelmät, opiskelijoiden (meta)kielellisten taitojen tunnistus- ja arviointistrategiat sekä normit ja niistä poikkeamat. Olli Kuparinen, Jenni Santaharju, Unni Leino, Liisa Mustanoja ja Jaakko Peltonen tarkastelevat artikkelisssaan yleiskielen hd-yhtymän katomuotojen etenemistä Helsingin puhekielessä, ja Marjatta Palander ja Jukka Mäkisalo soveltavat reaaliaikamenetelmää selvittääkseen, miten karjalaisina tietyt kielenpiirteet ovat säilyneet pitkällä aikavälillä. Myös Mikko Laasasen, Anneli Pajusen ja Tuomo Häikiön artikkeli kiinnittyy sosiolingvistiseen tutkimukseen: se käsittelee kielen natiivihallinnan huomioimista sosiolingvistisessä meneillään olevan kielenmuutoksen tutkimuksessa. Jenni Marjokorpi, Liisa Tainio ja Sara Routarinne taas tarkastelevat opiskelijoiden kieliopillisia päättelystrategioita subjektin ja objektin tunnistamisessa, ja Petri Lauerman katsaus tutkii vierassanoja seikkailijahahmo Pekka Lipposen kirjallisina karakterisointikeinoina. Artikkelit ovat saatavilla Virittäjän tilaajille 12 kuukauden ajan, minkä jälkeen ne ovat avoimesti luettavissa. Virittäjä seuraa tarkoin uusia rinnakkaistallentamisen käytänteitä, ja rinnakkaistallennusta koskeva ohjeisto on syyskuussa päivitetty lehden kotisivuille. Tiedejulkaisemisen kansainvälinen trendi ohjaa julkaisuja kohti yhä kasvavaa avoimuutta, ja Virittäjän kaltaiset, usean ihmisen jatkuvaa työpanosta vaativat tiedejulkaisut etsivät parhaillaan niin tutkijoiden kuin julkaisunkin kannalta kestäviä ratkaisuja. Lopuksi: Virittäjän kokoonpanossa on tapahtunut muutos, kun Helena Nurmikarin hoitama taloudenhoitajan tehtävä on siirtynyt Anna Sundqvistin vastuulle. Virittäjä kiittää Helenaa arvokkaasta työpanoksesta ja toivottaa Annan tervetulleeksi joukkoon! Markus Lakaniemi ja Laura Visapää

Nigeria is a sovereign country located in the area of West Africa bordering on the Gulf of Guinea. The country has a total area of 923, 769sq km (a little more than twice the size of California). Its physical size makes Nigeria the third largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The country’s terrain consists of the lowlands in the South with mountainous formations in the South-east, which merge into the hills and plateaus of the Central belt and the plains of the far north. The climate varies from the largely equatorial climates in the South to the tropical climates in the centre and the North (Ekoko, 1990). It is also the most populous country in Africa, with a population of about 160 million (2006 census), and a population growth rate estimate of 3%. The country is bordered on the west by the Republic of Benin and the Republic of Cameroon, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the north by Niger Republic and the Republic of Chad. Nigeria is endowed with numerous natural resources, the most important being petroleum and natural gas, found in the Niger Delta areas of the country. Coal, iron ore, tin, limestone, zinc, lead, gold, precious stones, and uranium are found across the country.There are many ethnic groups, roughly categorized into the majority ethnic groups and the minority ethnic groups. The majority groups are namely, the Hausa-Fulani of the North, the Yoruba of the South-west, and the Igbo of the South-east. The hundreds of so-called minority ethnic groups include the Igala, Tiv, Idoma, Junkun, Angas, Birom and others in the Central-belt, the Edo, Urhobo and Itshekiri in the Mid-west, the Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio and Ogoni in the South-south, and the Kanuri, Gwari and Kataf of the far-North. On the whole, it is estimated that the country has more than 250 ethnic groups (Osaghae, 1998). English is the official language in Nigeria, by virtue of the country being a former colony of Britain. Christianity, Islam and traditional beliefs are the religions in the country, and although there is no state religion, the various tiers of government in the country are often involved in aspects of some of these religions, including state sponsorships of annual Muslim and Christian pilgrimages to the Holy lands.

All history of this area and the general talk and all of that is that 1973 was a turning point and the Aquarius Festival is credited with having turned this region around in so many ways, but I think that is a myth ... and I have to honour the truth; and the truth is that old Dicke Donelly came and did a Welcome to Country the night before the festival. (Joseph in Joseph and Hanley)In 1973 the Australian Union of Students (AUS) held the Aquarius Arts and Lifestyle Festival in a small, rural New South Wales town called Nimbin. The festival was seen as the peak expression of Australian counterculture and is attributed to creating the “Rainbow Region”, an area with a concentration of alternative life stylers in Northern NSW (Derrett 28). While the Aquarius Festival is recognised as a founding historical and countercultural event, the unique and important relationships established with Indigenous people at this time are generally less well known. This article investigates claims that the 1973 Aquarius Festival was “the first event in Australian history that sought permission for the use of the land from the Traditional Owners” (Joseph and Hanley). The diverse international, national and local conditions that coalesced at the Aquarius Festival suggest a fertile environment was created for reconciliatory bonds to develop. Often dismissed as a “tree hugging, soap dodging movement,” the counterculture was radically politicised having sprung from the 1960s social revolutions when the world witnessed mass demonstrations that confronted war, racism, sexism and capitalism. Primarily a youth movement, it was characterised by flamboyant dress, music, drugs and mass gatherings with universities forming the epicentre and white, middle class youth leading the charge. As their ideals of changing the world were frustrated by lack of systematic change, many decided to disengage and a migration to rural settings occurred (Jacob; Munro-Clarke; Newton). In the search for alternatives, the counterculture assimilated many spiritual practices, such as Eastern traditions and mysticism, which were previously obscure to the Western world. This practice of spiritual syncretism can be represented as a direct resistance to the hegemony of the dominant Western culture (Stell). As the new counterculture developed, its progression from urban to rural settings was driven by philosophies imbued with a desire to reconnect with and protect the natural world while simultaneously rejecting the dominant conservative order. A recurring feature of this countercultural ‘back to the land’ migration was not only an empathetic awareness of the injustices of colonial past, but also a genuine desire to learn from the Indigenous people of the land. Indigenous people were generally perceived as genuine opposers of Westernisation, inherently spiritual, ecological, tribal and communal, thus encompassing the primary values to which the counterculture was aspiring (Smith). Cultures converged. One, a youth culture rebelling from its parent culture; the other, ancient cultures reeling from the historical conquest by the youths’ own ancestors. Such cultural intersections are rich with complex scenarios and politics. As a result, often naïve, but well-intended relations were established with Native Americans, various South American Indigenous peoples, New Zealand Maori and, as this article demonstrates, the Original People of Australia (Smith; Newton; Barr-Melej; Zolov). The 1960s protest era fostered the formation of groups aiming to address a variety of issues, and at times many supported each other. Jennifer Clarke says it was the Civil Rights movement that provided the first models of dissent by formulating a “method, ideology and language of protest” as African Americans stood up and shouted prior to other movements (2). The issue of racial empowerment was not lost on Australia’s Indigenous population. Clarke writes that during the 1960s, encouraged by events overseas and buoyed by national organisation, Aborigines “slowly embarked on a political awakening, demanded freedom from the trappings of colonialism and responded to the effects of oppression at worst and neglect at best” (4). Activism of the 1960s had the “profoundly productive effect of providing Aborigines with the confidence to assert their racial identity” (159). Many Indigenous youth were compelled by the zeitgeist to address their people’s issues, fulfilling Charlie Perkins’s intentions of inspiring in Indigenous peoples a will to resist (Perkins). Enjoying new freedoms of movement out of missions, due to the 1967 Constitutional change and the practical implementation of the assimilation policy, up to 32,000 Indigenous youth moved to Redfern, Sydney between 1967 and 1972 (Foley, “An Evening With”). Gary Foley reports that a dynamic new Black Power Movement emerged but the important difference between this new younger group and the older Indigenous leaders of the day was the diverse range of contemporary influences. Taking its mantra from the Black Panther movement in America, though having more in common with the equivalent Native American Red Power movement, the Black Power Movement acknowledged many other international struggles for independence as equally inspiring (Foley, “An Evening”). People joined together for grassroots resistance, formed anti-hierarchical collectives and established solidarities between varied groups who previously would have had little to do with each other. The 1973 Aquarius Festival was directly aligned with “back to the land” philosophies. The intention was to provide a place and a reason for gathering to “facilitate exchanges on survival techniques” and to experience “living in harmony with the natural environment.” without being destructive to the land (Dunstan, “A Survival Festival”). Early documents in the archives, however, reveal no apparent interest in Australia’s Indigenous people, referring more to “silken Arabian tents, mediaeval banners, circus, jugglers and clowns, peace pipes, maypole and magic circles” (Dunstan, “A Survival Festival”). Obliterated from the social landscape and minimally referred to in the Australian education system, Indigenous people were “off the radar” to the majority mindset, and the Australian counterculture similarly was slow to appreciate Indigenous culture. Like mainstream Australia, the local counterculture movement largely perceived the “race” issue as something occurring in other countries, igniting the phrase “in your own backyard” which became a catchcry of Indigenous activists (Foley, “Whiteness and Blackness”) With no mention of any Indigenous interest, it seems likely that the decision to engage grew from the emerging climate of Indigenous activism in Australia. Frustrated by student protestors who seemed oblivious to local racial issues, focusing instead on popular international injustices, Indigenous activists accused them of hypocrisy. Aquarius Festival directors, found themselves open to similar accusations when public announcements elicited a range of responses. Once committed to the location of Nimbin, directors Graeme Dunstan and Johnny Allen began a tour of Australian universities to promote the upcoming event. While at the annual conference of AUS in January 1973 at Monash University, Dunstan met Indigenous activist Gary Foley: Gary witnessed the presentation of Johnny Allen and myself at the Aquarius Foundation session and our jubilation that we had agreement from the village residents to not only allow, but also to collaborate in the production of the Festival. After our presentation which won unanimous support, it was Gary who confronted me with the question “have you asked permission from local Aboriginal folk?” This threw me into confusion because we had seen no Aboriginals in Nimbin. (Dunstan, e-mail) Such a challenge came at a time when the historical climate was etched with political activism, not only within the student movement, but more importantly with Indigenous activists’ recent demonstrations, such as the installation in 1972 of the Tent Embassy in Canberra. As representatives of the counterculture movement, which was characterised by its inclinations towards consciousness-raising, AUS organisers were ethically obliged to respond appropriately to the questions about Indigenous permission and involvement in the Aquarius Festival at Nimbin. In addition to this political pressure, organisers in Nimbin began hearing stories of the area being cursed or taboo for women. This most likely originated from the tradition of Nimbin Rocks, a rocky outcrop one kilometre from Nimbin, as a place where only certain men could go. Jennifer Hoff explains that many major rock formations were immensely sacred places and were treated with great caution and respect. Only a few Elders and custodians could visit these places and many such locations were also forbidden for women. Ceremonies were conducted at places like Nimbin Rocks to ensure the wellbeing of all tribespeople. Stories of the Nimbin curse began to spread and most likely captivated a counterculture interested in mysticism. As organisers had hoped that news of the festival would spread on the “lips of the counterculture,” they were alarmed to hear how “fast the bad news of this curse was travelling” (Dunstan, e-mail). A diplomatic issue escalated with further challenges from the Black Power community when organisers discovered that word had spread to Sydney’s Indigenous community in Redfern. Organisers faced a hostile reaction to their alleged cultural insensitivity and were plagued by negative publicity with accusations the AUS were “violating sacred ground” (Janice Newton 62). Faced with such bad press, Dunstan was determined to repair what was becoming a public relations disaster. It seemed once prompted to the path, a sense of moral responsibility prevailed amongst the organisers and they took the unprecedented step of reaching out to Australia’s Indigenous people. Dunstan claimed that an expedition was made to the local Woodenbong mission to consult with Elder, Uncle Lyle Roberts. To connect with local people required crossing the great social divide present in that era of Australia’s history. Amy Nethery described how from the nineteenth century to the 1960s, a “system of reserves, missions and other institutions isolated, confined and controlled Aboriginal people” (9). She explains that the people were incarcerated as a solution to perceived social problems. For Foley, “the widespread genocidal activity of early “settlement” gave way to a policy of containment” (Foley, “Australia and the Holocaust”). Conditions on missions were notoriously bad with alcoholism, extreme poverty, violence, serious health issues and depression common. Of particular concern to mission administrators was the perceived need to keep Indigenous people separate from the non-indigenous population. Dunstan described the mission he visited as having “bad vibes.” He found it difficult to communicate with the elderly man, and was not sure if he understood Dunstan’s quest, as his “responses came as disjointed raves about Jesus and saving grace” (Dunstan, e-mail). Uncle Lyle, he claimed, did not respond affirmatively or negatively to the suggestion that Nimbin was cursed, and so Dunstan left assuming it was not true. Other organisers began to believe the curse and worried that female festival goers might get sick or worse, die. This interpretation reflected, as Vanessa Bible argues, a general Eurocentric misunderstanding of the relationship of Indigenous peoples with the land. Paul Joseph admits they were naïve whites coming into a place with very little understanding, “we didn’t know if we needed a witch doctor or what we needed but we knew we needed something from the Aborigines to lift the spell!”(Joseph and Hanley). Joseph, one of the first “hippies” who moved to the area, had joined forces with AUS organisers. He said, “it just felt right” to get Indigenous involvement and recounted how organisers made another trip to Woodenbong Mission to find Dickee (Richard) Donnelly, a Song Man, who was very happy to be invited. Whether the curse was valid or not it proved to be productive in further instigating respectful action. Perhaps feeling out of their depth, the organisers initiated another strategy to engage with Australian Indigenous people. A call out was sent through the AUS network to diversify the cultural input and it was recommended they engage the services of South African artist, Bauxhau Stone. Timing aligned well as in 1972 Australia had voted in a new Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. Whitlam brought about significant political changes, many in response to socialist protests that left a buoyancy in the air for the counterculturalist movement. He made prodigious political changes in support of Indigenous people, including creating the Aboriginal Arts Board as part of the Australian Council of the Arts (ACA). As the ACA were already funding activities for the Aquarius Festival, organisers were successful in gaining two additional grants specifically for Indigenous participation (Farnham). As a result We were able to hire […] representatives, a couple of Kalahari bushmen. ‘Cause we were so dumb, we didn’t think we could speak to the black people, you know what I mean, we thought we would be rejected, or whatever, so for us to really reach out, we needed somebody black to go and talk to them, or so we thought, and it was remarkable. This one Bau, a remarkable fellow really, great artist, great character, he went all over Australia. He went to Pitjantjatjara, Yirrkala and we arranged buses and tents when they got here. We had a very large contingent of Aboriginal people come to the Aquarius Festival, thanks to Whitlam. (Joseph in Joseph and Henley) It was under the aegis of these government grants that Bauxhau Stone conducted his work. Stone embodied a nexus of contemporary issues. Acutely aware of the international movement for racial equality and its relevance to Australia, where conditions were “really appalling”, Stone set out to transform Australian race relations by engaging with the alternative arts movement (Stone). While his white Australian contemporaries may have been unaccustomed to dealing with the Indigenous racial issue, Stone was actively engaged and thus well suited to act as a cultural envoy for the Aquarius Festival. He visited several local missions, inviting people to attend and notifying them of ceremonies being conducted by respected Elders. Nimbin was then the site of the Aquarius Lifestyle and Celebration Festival, a two week gathering of alternative cultures, technologies and youth. It innovatively demonstrated its diversity of influences, attracted people from all over the world and was the first time that the general public really witnessed Australia’s counterculture (Derrett 224). As markers of cultural life, counterculture festivals of the 1960s and 1970s were as iconic as the era itself and many around the world drew on the unique Indigenous heritage of their settings in some form or another (Partridge; Perone; Broadley and Jones; Zolov). The social phenomenon of coming together to experience, celebrate and foster a sense of unity was triggered by protests, music and a simple, yet deep desire to reconnect with each other. Festivals provided an environment where the negative social pressures of race, gender, class and mores (such as clothes) were suspended and held the potential “for personal and social transformation” (St John 167). With the expressed intent to “take matters into our own hands” and try to develop alternative, innovative ways of doing things with collective participation, the Aquarius Festival thus became an optimal space for reinvigorating ancient and Indigenous ways (Dunstan, “A Survival Festival”). With philosophies that venerated collectivism, tribalism, connecting with the earth, and the use of ritual, the Indigenous presence at the Aquarius Festival gave attendees the opportunity to experience these values. To connect authentically with Nimbin’s landscape, forming bonds with the Traditional Owners was essential. Participants were very fortunate to have the presence of the last known initiated men of the area, Uncle Lyle Roberts and Uncle Dickee Donnely. These Elders represented the last vestiges of an ancient culture and conducted innovative ceremonies, song, teachings and created a sacred fire for the new youth they encountered in their land. They welcomed the young people and were very happy for their presence, believing it represented a revolutionary shift (Wedd; King; John Roberts; Cecil Roberts). Images 1 and 2: Ceremony and talks conducted at the Aquarius Festival (people unknown). Photographs reproduced by permission of photographer and festival attendee Paul White. The festival thus provided an important platform for the regeneration of cultural and spiritual practices. John Roberts, nephew of Uncle Lyle, recalled being surprised by the reaction of festival participants to his uncle: “He was happy and then he started to sing. And my God … I couldn’t get near him! There was this big ring of hippies around him. They were about twenty deep!” Sharing to an enthusiastic, captive audience had a positive effect and gave the non-indigenous a direct Indigenous encounter (Cecil Roberts; King; Oshlak). Estimates of the number of Indigenous people in attendance vary, with the main organisers suggesting 800 to 1000 and participants suggesting 200 to 400 (Stone; Wedd; Oshlak: Joseph; King; Cecil Roberts). As the Festival lasted over a two week period, many came and left within that time and estimates are at best reliant on memory, engagement and perspectives. With an estimated total attendance at the Festival between 5000 and 10,000, either number of Indigenous attendees is symbolic and a significant symbolic statistic for Indigenous and non-indigenous to be together on mutual ground in Australia in 1973. Images 3-5: Performers from Yirrkala Dance Group, brought to the festival by Stone with funding from the Federal Government. Photographs reproduced by permission of photographer and festival attendee Dr Ian Cameron. For Indigenous people, the event provided an important occasion to reconnect with their own people, to share their culture with enthusiastic recipients, as well as the chance to experience diverse aspects of the counterculture. Though the northern NSW region has a history of diverse cultural migration of Italian and Indian families, the majority of non-indigenous and Indigenous people had limited interaction with cosmopolitan influences (Kijas 20). Thus Nimbin was a conservative region and many Christianised Indigenous people were also conservative in their outlook. The Aquarius Festival changed that as the Indigenous people experienced the wide-ranging cultural elements of the alternative movement. The festival epitomised countercultural tendencies towards flamboyant fashion and hairstyles, architectural design, fantastical art, circus performance, Asian clothes and religious products, vegetarian food and nudity. Exposure to this bohemian culture would have surely led to “mind expansion and consciousness raising,” explicit aims adhered to by the movement (Roszak). Performers and participants from Africa, America and India also gave attending Indigenous Australians the opportunity to interact with non-European cultures. Many people interviewed for this paper indicated that Indigenous people’s reception of this festival experience was joyous. For Australia’s early counterculture, interest in Indigenous Australia was limited and for organisers of the AUS Aquarius Festival, it was not originally on the agenda. The counterculture in the USA and New Zealand had already started to engage with their Indigenous people some years earlier. However due to the Aquarius Festival’s origins in the student movement and its solidarities with the international Indigenous activist movement, they were forced to shift their priorities. The coincidental selection of a significant spiritual location at Nimbin to hold the festival brought up additional challenges and countercultural intrigue with mystical powers and a desire to connect authentically to the land, further prompted action. Essentially, it was the voices of empowered Indigenous activists, like Gary Foley, which in fact triggered the reaching out to Indigenous involvement. While the counterculture organisers were ultimately receptive and did act with unprecedented respect, credit must be given to Indigenous activists. The activist’s role is to trigger action and challenge thinking and in this case, it was ultimately productive. Therefore the Indigenous people were not merely passive recipients of beneficiary goodwill, but active instigators of appropriate cultural exchange. After the 1973 festival many attendees decided to stay in Nimbin to purchase land collectively and a community was born. Relationships established with local Indigenous people developed further. Upon visiting Nimbin now, one will see a vibrant visual display of Indigenous and psychedelic themed art, a central park with an open fire tended by local custodians and other Indigenous community members, an Aboriginal Centre whose rent is paid for by local shopkeepers, and various expressions of a fusion of counterculture and Indigenous art, music and dance. While it appears that reconciliation became the aspiration for mainstream society in the 1990s, Nimbin’s early counterculture history had Indigenous reconciliation at its very foundation. The efforts made by organisers of the 1973 Aquarius Festival stand as one of very few examples in Australian history where non-indigenous Australians have respectfully sought to learn from Indigenous people and to assimilate their cultural practices. It also stands as an example for the world, of reconciliation, based on hippie ideals of peace and love. 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