AustLit

'In this issue we have published the 1998 Wentworth Lecture by Raymattja Marika. At a time when the value of bilingual education is under severe scrutiny Marika's lecture is a timely reminder that the retention of language in learning is important and that knowing one's language enables people to know themselves and their history. She points out, for example, that knowledge of the relationship between the Macassans and the Yolngu is an empty vessel without people knowing their own language. She argues that until Indigenous peoples are included meaningfully in mainstream education reconciliation is an empty word and we are all in an intellectual terra nulliu'   (Editorial Introduction)