Fifteen-year-old Keiran Douglas is finding his footing in more ways than one. The teenager from Djiringanj country on the New South Wales far south coast has embraced surfing as a means to connect with his ancestral language and culture. When he first joined the Surfing with the Mob program, he struggled to stand on the board. "Now I can go across the waves pretty good," he said. "It's something I wouldn't give up." Keiran is also pursuing a future in teaching Indigenous languages after he finishes school.

Surfing with the Mob was launched in 2022 by Robbie Townsend, a Djiringanj, Ngarigo, and Jerrinja man. He serves as a Community Connector with the Bega Local Aboriginal Land Council. This initiative is part of the Closing the Gap program, which aims to support Indigenous teenagers during their final years of high school. Townsend, a lifelong surfer, believes that engaging in surfing helps the youth maintain their physical, mental, and cultural well-being. "The young ones that come are around 14-17, and it's a really hard age; there's a lot going on for them," he said. "Having an outlet, having strong mentors and Elders that they can connect with is really important."

After three successful years, the program is now placing a greater emphasis on language and culture through the Yangala Bugan (Sing on Country) initiative. Tamika Townsend, the founder of Yangala Bugan, highlighted the community's need to revive their language. "There is a strong need in our community to not only learn our language but to bring it back, and our young people feel a massive responsibility," she said.

To aid in this revival, Djiringanj and Ngarigo educator Marcus Mundy collaborated with elder Aunty Ellen Mundy to develop teaching resources. They utilized word lists recorded by anthropologists and linguists dating back to the 1840s. "It was our ancestors who gave that information, that history and language to the anthropologists and linguists," Aunty Ellen Mundy said. She expressed pride in her heritage, stating, "It makes you proud to know that you come from strong people that spoke the language fluently."

Aunty Ellen emphasized the limitations of written records in capturing the richness of her people's language and stories. "Our language and our history was never written down. It's been passed down through ceremony, through song, dance, engravings on trees, rock art, body paint," she explained. "We are ancient people, with an ancient culture that comes from ancient land. It's something to be proud of."

Emma Stewart, another founder of Yangala Bugan, noted that song plays a crucial role in sharing and preserving language. "For our people, song is like the veins in the body that connect everything together," she said. The young surfers have taken this to heart, using the words they learn to write and record a rap song titled "Saltwater Home." Sixteen-year-old Raiyn Campbell described the song as a reflection of their connection to the saltwater and their community. "The song sums up Surfing with the Mob, which is us being connected to saltwater, being connected to country, but also doing it together, as a mob," he said.

Raiyn's journey with her culture has been transformative. As a child, she recognized her Aboriginal identity but felt disconnected until she lived with her father at age 10. "I knew I was different from other kids, but then I felt kind of in-between, 'cause I didn't know anything about my culture, and that made me for some reason feel ashamed," she said. "Being Aboriginal and showing that I'm Aboriginal, it's that missing piece. It's empowering."

Stewart believes that guiding these teenagers through a pivotal stage in their lives fosters healing across generations. "They're at that turning point where they're trying to figure out who they want to be," she said. "When they practice culture and engage in language, their spirit wakes up, and you can see the strength and the confidence in them grow. And that's what we want."