It’s not unusual for budgies to speak a few words but there’s something setting this one apart from the rest.
Key points:
- Mr Beaky is the subject of a new book that speaks to what it means to be an Aboriginal person in Australia
- He helps kids learn phrases of Indigenous language
- The book is dedicated to Kongwak Primary in South Gippsland
It’s not just his large vocabulary of hundreds of words and phrases but what he’s saying, as he travels around Victoria, visiting schools to share snippets of language with Taungurung and Dja Dja Wurrung woman of the Kulin nation, Cassie Leatham.
“Beaky would have to be the only budgie recorded ever to speak Aboriginal languages because we’re reviving our languages because it was taken away, it was taken away from us,” Ms Leatham said.
Ms Leatham got Mr Beaky from a pet shop a couple of years ago and said he quickly started picking up phrases of Indigenous languages she would use around the home.
“For me as a cultural educator travelling around to schools, having a budgie that speaks Aboriginal language, it’s fascinating to students,” she said.
“They listen to him because they can’t believe that he can actually talk, but then also having that Aboriginal language on top of it, it blows their minds, and then they want to listen more.”
In the wild budgies are green and yellow while pet budgies can be many colours including blue, white, and lilac.
The budgie forms the subject of a book, An important message from Mr Beaky, where the little bird shares a big message about identity.
“It’s something that really hits home, especially for me being a fair-skinned Aboriginal,” she said.
“Coming to schools, I get asked, ‘Are you really Aboriginal? You’re not dark enough to be Aboriginal’.
“I’ve grown up with identity issues all my life and I’ve always had to justify my skin colour, my eye colour, everything and I was sick of it.
“Then Mr Beaky come along, and he says, ‘Just because I’m not green, doesn’t mean I can’t be seen, I’m still a budgie’ and that just hit home.”
Sharing the message at schools
The book is dedicated to the children at Kongwak Primary School, where Mr Beaky’s message has resonated.
Wazza and Lily Ann Balfour have discovered their own Aboriginal heritage since meeting Mr Beaky.
“Even though you’re different you’re still basically the same,” Lily Ann said.
“Because he’s an Indigenous bird, but he’s a different colour, similar to me, Lily Ann and Cassie; we’re all Indigenous but we’re just fair-skinned,” Wazza said.
Amanda McMahon, a teacher at Kongwak Primary School, said the children got the message “straightaway.”
“That Mr Beaky is a blue budgie; most native budgies are green or yellow but he’s still a budgie,” she said.
“For them, they’re Aboriginal and they’re fair-skinned, and they’re blue-eyed — they’re still Aboriginal, so they were able to make that connection really quickly.”
Ms Leatham can see a big change in the kids in the time she’s known them.
“Last year, when I was here and seeing those Indigenous kids where they were, they weren’t quite sure their background,” she said.
“They’re still not quite sure where their connection is, or who their mob is but they’re standing up to go, ‘I am Aboriginal — I’m a fair-skinned Aboriginal, but I’m Aboriginal’.
“I’m proud of that, they’re starting to be confident in themselves and sharing their story.
“The message that Mr Beaky has given them is to stand proud, to stand strong, be confident in yourself and in your skin and it doesn’t matter if you don’t feel like you’re fitting in; you do.”
