Bridging Cultures: The Transformative Impact of the Wanthiwa App on Community Inclusion
We’re thrilled to share the story of our TechDiversity Awards 2024 Merit Recipient, who used technology to honour the Yindjibarndi people’s heritage. Read this case study to learn about their app, Wanthiwa, and its impact on cultural understanding and inclusion.
The Wanthiwa app, a collaboration by Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation, Brains, and Grade can help workplace cultures by promoting cultural diversity appreciation. It’s not just a cultural heritage storehouse but also an educational tool, offering an immersive course on Yindjibarndi culture for tech professionals and organisations.
Using Wanthiwa in diversity training can enhance workplace inclusivity and respect for First Nations peoples. It provides genuine insights into the Yindjibarndi community’s heritage and land connection. This supports broader DEI goals by using technology for cultural preservation and education.
Wanthiwa also demonstrates how technology can connect ancient traditions with modern platforms, making cultural education accessible to a wider audience, including those in tech.
This app’s success should inspire other organisations to use technology in celebrating diversity, contributing to a more unified and supportive workplace culture.
Pictured from left to right are: Troy Smith, Art Director at Brains, Bess Batterham, Digital Project Director at Brains, Wimiya Woodley, a Yindjibarndi man and voice actor for the app, and Iya Ware, also a voice actor for the app
How a collaboration between Juluwarlu Group and Brains brought their 65,000-year-old creation story to life in the app, Wanthiwa – which means ”hello” in Yindjibarndi.
To ensure greater diversity and inclusion in modern digital storytelling, and to prevent their culture being lost, Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Corporation collaborated with Brains to bring the Yindjibarndi nation’s 65,000-year-old creation story to life as the first step in building a cultural awareness app.
Indigenous Australians pass down history through an oral tradition, leaving their heritage vulnerable in the digital era. But now, the richly detailed Yindjibarndi creation story, with its interactive animation, narrated in English and Yindjibarndi, makes this priceless heritage accessible to Yindjibarndi youth and the world. The app has already had hundreds of users and created a sense of pride among the Yindjibarndi elders and community. Being in a modern digital format also makes it attractive to young people and enables them to experience something from their own culture and in their own language on their mobile phones.
The next stage of the app is now underway with a full cultural awareness course in development to educate workers and visitors about Yindjibarndi Country, customs, history, beliefs and sacred sites.
The creation story can be enjoyed across any device at Wanthiwa.com
Brains and Juluwarlu were motivated to enter the app into the TechDiversity Awards to encourage other Indigenous groups to tell their stories, to showcase the beautiful Yindjibarndi creation story and highlight their successful collaboration, which, under the direction of Yindjibardi members and collaborators Lorraine Coppin and Michael Woodley, encourages skill swaps, creative input and cultural exchange between both teams.
Being recognised as a winner in this category was incredibly rewarding for everyone involved and vindicated the careful attention to detail it took to create the animation and language feature.
Brains agency believes that diversity and inclusion in digital applications is essential to our cohesion as a nation moving forwards.
Bess Batterham, producer of this app at Brains, said, “This incredible creation story is for anyone interested in learning more about First Nations language and culture – delivered in an engaging and accessible format.” Check it out at Wanthiwa.com.
If you are a past winner at the TechDiversity Awards, we would love to hear how you are doing and perhaps work together on a case study of your initative. Contact Jen here.
