As part of a much larger study where spatial reasoning is the focus, this paper draws on the language aspects of this strand of the curriculum. The quarantined part of the project discussed in this presentation is based in remote Indigenous schools. We draw on the challenges of the concept of symmetry and where the language of instruction (and mathematics) is a foreign language. We pose questions of the nuanced, and often complex, language of spatial reasoning and the impact this has on the performance of Indigenous learners when applied to the enacted practices in school mathematics. We conclude by raising concerns and directions of the subsequent phases of the project.