** Honey Ant Readers response to newspaper article **

We thank all the wonderful people from across the country and beyond, who have emailed or called us to offer their support for our ongoing important work, in the face of the misleading and extremely hurtful accusations in the newspaper recently, all of which we categorically deny.

We have no idea where the unsubstantiated and distorted figures in the news article have come from, but rather than restate the accusations and rebuke each individually, we consider it far more useful and pleasant for you to read the testimonials from many of the Elders involved in the use of the Readers at Yipirinya School.  These Elders either started Yipirinya School, are descendants of the Founders of the school, or were elected members and office bearers on the Yipirinya School Council. The current president and his new council members making public claims against the HAR project were not at the school at the time the project commenced and have never worked with Margaret in any capacity. In fact, the article states that “Yipirinya has now adopted an alternative literacy program”.
The Elders in the community have always supported the continued publication of the Honey Ant Readers for the benefit of the entire Aboriginal community, and not just Yipirinya.

HARs play a vital role in mentoring Indigenous educators to take the lead in speaking about their views on educating their children ‘both ways’. Elder Marjorie Williams describes the meanings behind her painting while co-presenting with Elder Jennifer Inkamala and Margaret James at the Puliima conference in Melbourne.

Please read our full response here.

Thank you again for encouraging us to ‘keep up the good work.’ That is exactly what we will continue to do, with our large team of Cultural Elders and traditional Aboriginal language speakers who support us unequivocally. Your support means a great deal to us all.

The Honey Ant Readers work to support endangered languages.

Coralie Williams being mentored as she co-presents a workshop for educators in Fremantle with Margaret.