sean cubitt writes of 'english as a racist instrument of exploitation, oppression & genocide, and the core role of other languages in the resistance to colonialism'(in 'digital aesthetics' p 2; he is discussing the work of african writers arguing for gikuyu & kiswahili languages capabilities for 'voicing the experience of anti-colonial & post-colonial struggles'.

this raises a number of issues in relation to ngarla songs .. the experience they tell of is different to the poems of jack davis & kath walker for example: or at least the way theyre told. the book doesnt say how many people speak ngarla - but it suggests that its less than hundreds. english is used to communicate these songs to non-ngarla people. the songs arent directly political in the way that davis & walker can be. this i suppose has something to do with the nature of ngarla itself, its vocabulary, and with ngarla contact with white political culture. but resistance isnt all in the writing - its in how things are presented, & how read.

(& resistance isnt everything. theres an education in these poems.)

the main act of resistance here is of course presenting the songs in ngarla - proof that ngarla (as an example of an aboriginal culture) survives - & not just that it survives, but how: the songs show the adaptation to modernity to non-indigenous impact.

another level of politics is in the bios that tell of the 1946 strike for better conditions for aboriginal workers. (wirrkaru jingkiri p 47)

these songs show its not possible to reduce aboriginal poetry / songs to a mode or two.