How a young researcher is keeping the past – and a language – alive.
As the recipient of the Ern MacDonald On-Country Fellowship, Anaiwan researcher Dr Callum Clayton-Dixon is reclaiming his ancestral language from the archives, reconnecting it with Country, culture, and community.
The On-Country Fellowship is an initiative that supports Indigenous self-determination and community-based research practice. The first of its kind at an Australian university, the On-Country Fellowship has provided the opportunity for Callum to pursue an ambitious program of work to revive the traditional Anaiwan language while living, researching and learning on-Country.
Like many Indigenous languages, Anaiwan experienced a devastating decline in the aftermath of colonisation. Callum’s doctoral thesis, Uyitika – Reclaiming Our High-Country Lingo, completed in 2025, represents the first comprehensive reconstruction of the Anaiwan language and provides a foundation for community-based language revival efforts. Kyūna Wangana, Kyūna Uyina – ‘Understanding Country, Speaking Country’ is his next project, involving the mapping, deciphering and re-learning of traditional place names across southern New England.
“Through this process, we will not only recover words and grammatical features but also rekindle the deep connections between language, place, story and tradition,” Callum says.
Callum’s research has helped inform both community language workshops and the language programs rolled out in local schools, along with the development of language teaching resources. It has also supported work to revive the Anaiwan skinship system and Anaiwan song, as well as the reintroduction of traditional land management practices like cultural burning.
Named in memory of Ern MacDonald, known labour relations advocate, the On-Country Fellowship exemplifies UTS’s commitment to Indigenous excellence and reflects the aspirations of the newly launched UTS Indigenous Education and Research Strategy 2025–2030. The Fellowship is delivered through the university’s Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, which provides researchers with wraparound support, including legal advice, networking connections and peer review.
We will not only recover words and grammatical features but also rekindle the deep connections between language, place, story and tradition.
This remarkable Fellowship is made possible by the generous support of the MacDonald Family, who are long-time philanthropic supporters of young people and the Dusseldorp Forum, a family foundation focused on improving education, health, and social outcomes for young people and families across Australia.
Building on this shared vision, UTS plans to grow the On-Country Fellowship model with support from philanthropic partners who share the university’s commitment to supporting Indigenous excellence, says Professor Robynne Quiggin AO, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Indigenous Leadership and Engagement at UTS:
“We aspire to support more On-Country Fellowships, building a network of talented young Indigenous researchers driving meaningful change in partnership with their communities.”
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