- Posted on 17 Sep 2025
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 and reconnecting it with Country, culture, and community.
The On-Country Fellowship supports Indigenous self-determination and community-based research practice. The first of its kind at an Australian university, it has enabled postdoctoral UTS researcher Dr Callum Clayon-Dixon 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. His next project, Kyūna Wangana, Kyūna Uyina – ‘Understanding Country, Speaking Country’ will focus on mapping, deciphering and re-learning 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,” Dr Clayton-Dixon says.
Dr Clayton-Dixon’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.
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 who are driving meaningful change in partnership with their communities.”
News
Across UTS, exceptional researchers are pursuing bold scientific shifts in how we diagnose, treat and even cure some of the world’s most debilitating diseases.
News
With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative, Associate Professor Emma Camp is pioneering science-led approaches to reef restoration and resilience through the Coral Nurture Program.
News
At UTS, two of Australia’s leading advocates in domestic and gender-based violence prevention are transforming outcomes for victim-survivors, enabled by philanthropic support.
News
With the support of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, a world-first research program that spans social and data science is charting a path to better education outcomes.
News
Across UTS, exceptional researchers are pursuing bold scientific shifts in how we diagnose, treat and even cure some of the world’s most debilitating diseases.
News
With support from the Rolex Perpetual Planet initiative, Associate Professor Emma Camp is pioneering science-led approaches to reef restoration and resilience through the Coral Nurture Program.
News
At UTS, two of Australia’s leading advocates in domestic and gender-based violence prevention are transforming outcomes for victim-survivors, enabled by philanthropic support.
News
With the support of the Paul Ramsay Foundation, a world-first research program that spans social and data science is charting a path to better education outcomes.