Jack Butler (Jiwarli) facts for kids
Jack Butler (born May 4, 1901 – died April 1986) was an Indigenous Australian. He is believed to have been the very last person to speak the Jiwarli dialect.
Jack Butler's Early Life
Jack Butler was born on May 4, 1901. His birthplace was Wilukampal, also known as Caraline Creek, in northwestern Western Australia. His mother, named Silver, was a Tharrkari woman. She worked as a cook at the outcamp. His father, Dick Butler, was a white shepherd. Jack's stepfather, Jinapuka, was a Warriyangka man.
Around 1905 or 1906, Jack and his family moved to Glennflorrie Station. There, he helped care for older men. In 1923, the family moved again to Gifford Creek Station. This station was located on the West Lyons River. In 1926, Jack moved to Mount Stuart Station. The next year, in 1927, he married Molly Ashburton. She was a Thalanyji woman. They had four children: Paul, Maggie, Sid, and Claude.
Jack Butler and the Jiwarli Language
Jack Butler and his younger brother, Joe Butler, were among the last people who spoke the Jiwarli dialect. Jack played a very important role in helping to study and record this language. From 1978 to 1986, he worked with a linguist named Peter Austin. Together, they documented Jiwarli history, language, and culture. They also created a Jiwarli dictionary and a collection of stories.
Butler and Austin recorded more than 70 stories and a list of about 1500 words. They also made other language recordings. Jack Butler's recordings are very special because they are some of the only audio records of the Jiwarli language.
In 1985, Jack told Austin two stories from his childhood in Jiwarli. One story was about an earthquake that happened around 1906. The other story described seeing Halley's Comet in 1910. These stories are important for culture, language, and history. They show that traditional Jiwarli life was still strong when Jack was a child. Even though white settlers came to the area in the 1860s, traditional Jiwarli life only changed a lot later. This happened in the 1920s with the growth of the Western Australian pearling industry and its forced labor system.
See also
- In Spanish: Jack Butler para niños
