National Reconciliation Week presents us with a valuable opportunity to reflect on many things, such as the languages used by the original owners of the land on which we now live and work.
This week sees Forico reflecting on the names of the past and making them visible in the present, with the dual-naming of meeting rooms across the company’s sites in Tasmania / lutruwita.
palawa kani is the only Aboriginal language in use in lutruwita/Tasmania today. Given the near destruction of the original languages, palawa kani combines words retrieved from as many of the original Aboriginal languages as possible. Working closely with the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and its Language Program, Forico has adopted a selection of place names and words representing the flora and fauna of Tasmania.
The following will be adopted for four rooms at the company’s Launceston office:
turapina / Ben Lomond - pronounced: tu-rah-pee-nah
lutruwita / Tasmania - pronounced: lu-tru-wee-tah
kurina / wedge-tailed eagle - pronounced: ku-ree-nah
larila / platypus - pronounced: lah-ree-lah
At the Ridgley office, Long Reach and Surrey Hills mills and Somerset nursery, the following palawa kani words will be used:
natunu / St Valentines Peak – pronounced: nah-tu-nu
kanamaluka / River Tamar – pronounced: kah-nah-mah-lu-kah
wulaninka / Surrey Hills – pronounced: wu-lah-neen-kah
kuwiya / Coastal wattle – pronounced: ku-wee-ya
These words were chosen as those which most appropriately reflect the locations in which Forico works and the landscapes we help to manage. Signs at each room will give the name and pronunciation.
Forico’s ‘Reflect’ Reconciliation Action Plan, produced in 2020 in collaboration with Reconciliation Tasmania, describes the company’s reconciliation journey. In this, we strive to deliver meaningful outcomes which benefit Aboriginal people throughout Tasmania, aligned to Forico’s purpose and our custodianship of the natural environment. Later this year, the Reconciliation Action Plan will be updated to the next stage, ‘Innovate’.
Forico’s Sustainability Manager Simon Cook, who is leading the RAP process, said ‘I am excited to see we are delivering on the initiatives in our Reconciliation Action Plan. Changing the names of our meeting rooms is an important statement and a step in the right direction on our reconciliation journey.’
To read more about palawa kani, the only Aboriginal language in lutruwita today, we encourage you to visit the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s website:
https://tacinc.com.au/programs...
You may also like to visit the Centre’s interactive map of over 200 Aboriginal place names in lutruwita / Tasmania:
https://tacinc.com.au/pulingin...
Acknowledgement of Country
In pursuit of our common interest for reconciliation, Forico acknowledges and pays respect to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners and spiritual custodians of the land on which we do business. We acknowledge Elders, past and present.
ENDS