KAYA

I don’t know whether this is common in any other West Australian industries but in the arts, a surprising number of people use indigenous language in their email communication. They will start a letter with “kaya” which means “hello” or “yes” in the Noongar language, spoken by the Aboriginal people of the southwest of the state. And at the end, the farewell might be “boordawan” or “boorda”.

I know it’s used by well meaning people to show respect to indigenous people and to acknowledge that we stand on their unceded land but I confess it makes me feel uncomfortable. Yes, I could use it to show that I have a few words of language but I'd feel like a fraud. When in France, for example, I might attempt to say hallo and goodbye in French when dealing with people face to face but would I write in French? I might use Google Translate side by side with my English to show that I was trying. But using bonjour and au revoir as greetings when writing in English? Am I being too self-conscious? Would indigenous people prefer me to make an effort or be concerned that I was appropriating their language?

Wandjina Rock Art, Western Australia (2019)