PERTAME (Southern Arrernte) kids from Alice Springs have taken their endangered language on the road to perform at the recent Uncle Archie Roach State Memorial Service in Melbourne.

Mid last year the youngsters, participants of the Pertame language revival program, had been rehearsing Roach’s Took the Children Away, in their language, in preparation for a national conference performance ahead of travelling to Sydney to see Roach’s show at the Opera House when they heard of his passing. 

Deeply saddened, the Pertame community dedicated the conference performance to the “life and achievements of Mr Roach and the legacy he has left behind as a storyteller of truths”. 

The Roach family invited the Pertame kids to perform at his state memorial. 

“The words of the song are very powerful,” Pertame Elder Kathleen Bradshaw said. 

“Not only did they take the children away they took our languages away as…