Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria.[citation needed] The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal.[2] For some people and groups, it has been described as a reclaiming of Indigenous language and culture, as opposed to relying on European titles such as "Aboriginal".[2] The term is also used with reference to institutions involving Koori communities and individuals, such as the Koori Court, Koori Radio and Koori Knockout.
The Koori region is home to the largest proportion of Australia's Indigenous population (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people), with 40.7% of Indigenous Australians living in either New South Wales or Victoria.[3] Within the region however, Koori-identifying people make up only 2.9% and 0.8% of the overall populations of New South Wales and Victoria respectively.[3] Most of this Koori population speak English in the home, although a small number do report continued usage of traditional Indigenous languages.[4]
Koori culture is characterised by a commitment to the Dreaming, an overall worldview that believes in and values interconnectedness between the land and community.[5] Koori art and literature continue to be produced in contemporary Australia, often with reference to traditional Indigenous artistic techniques.
The first recorded meeting between Koori people and Europeans occurred in 1770. Kooris have since experienced a sharp population decline, influenced by the colonisation of Australia by Europeans.[6][7] The legacy of colonisation is still strongly felt, and has had ongoing ramifications for Koori life and wellbeing.[8]
Etymology
Map of the Koori Region
"Koori" comes from the word gurri, meaning "man" or "people" in the Indigenous language Awabakal, spoken on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.[2] On the far north coast of New South Wales, the term may still be spelt "goori" or "goorie" and pronounced with a harder "g".[9] The term's first documented usage occurred in 1834 in An Australian Grammar as "Ko-re", translated to mean man or mankind.[10]
Geography and subgroups
Koori Indigenous Australians inhabit the broad region of southern New South Wales and Victoria. Indigenous subgroups within this region are numerous, including the Eora Nation of modern-day Sydney, Ngunnawal Nation of Canberra and Woiwurrung Nation of Melbourne.[11]
Knowledge and culture
Art
Like archetypal Indigenous painting, Koori painting is based largely on dot work, done in "earthy colours" such as blacks, whites, reds and browns.[12] Some Koori elders identify this style as a means of reconnecting with traditional Indigenous culture and ancestry.[12]
More unique to the Koori population is the prevalence of artistic "shell craft", using shells found in the coastal environment to decorate ornamental pieces.[13] Documents from the 1880s detail Koori women selling shell craft baskets and decorative shoes to settler women at markets in La Perouse and Circular Quay, a practice that appears unique to the Sydney area.[14]
Shell craft has continued to be of importance to the modern Koori population, with a 2008 exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney incorporating Indigenous shell craft.[15] In 2005, Koori shell artist Esme Timbery won the Parliament of New South Wales Indigenous Art Prize for her shell-adorned model of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.[14] The economic prevalence of Koori shell craft, too, has increased in contemporary Indigenous art history. While in 2005, shell craft shoes retailed for approximately AUD$20, a pair sold for AUD$140 at a Sydney gallery in 2009.[16]
Also unique to the Koori region were possum-skin cloaks, traditionally gifted to Koori newborns. The cloaks were embellished with the markings of the newborn's clan and family, and were added to as the child grew, to represent a kind of Koori "autobiography".[17] Although the craft of possum-skin cloaks has declined, it is being revived by contemporary Koori artists such as Kelly Koumalatsos.[17][18]
Language
The Koori region is home to a number of traditional Indigenous languages. The state of Victoria has speakers of 38 Aboriginal languages,[19] while New South Wales has historically been home to more than 70.[20] However, the number of Kooris who report speaking an Indigenous language at home is low. Only 0.8% of New South Wales and 1% of Victorian Kooris speak an Indigenous language in the home, being the lowest rates of Indigenous language usage outside of Tasmania.[4]
There are some attempts to revive Koori languages. In New South Wales, the number of Koori families speaking an Indigenous language at home is on the rise.[4] Census data indicates that the number of New South Wales Indigenous language speakers increased by 123% between 2006 and 2016.[4] The New South Wales Government's Aboriginal Languages Act was enacted in 2017 in an attempt to preserve Indigenous languages.[4]
In addition to traditional languages, Kooris may also speak "Koori English", the dialect of English spoken by Kooris within their communities.[21] The dialect developed from the pidgin English used by Kooris to communicate with settlers at the time of colonisation.[22] It employs nonverbal language cues such as silences, gestures and lip pursing.[23] Some grammatical elements of Koori English may persist from traditional Indigenous languages, such as distinct ways of marking plural nouns.[24]
Birthing rituals
Historical records show Koori birthing rituals involving song, dance and ceremonial practices.[25]Gunditjmara Kooris of South West Victoria record the ritualistic use of sand, heated by fire both to warm the infant and welcome it to country.[17] Records also exist detailing Koori use of medical techniques such as natural pain management, and the teaching of these techniques to European settler women.[17]
Historically, "birthing trees" were essential to Koori birthing rituals.[26] These were trees used as the sites of births, where mothers, families and communities could congregate to deliver the baby and welcome it to country.[26] Sometimes, the placenta would be buried under the birthing tree to symbolise the newborn's connection to country.[26] A Koori birthing tree in Western Victoria has received status as a Significant Tree on the Australian Register of the National Trust in recognition of its importance to the Koori population.[26]
History
Before European colonisation
Radiocarbon dating has identified evidence of Indigenous inhabitancy in the Koori region as early as 50,000–45,000 years ago.[27] Ancient Koori artefacts including human remains and tools have been found at Lake Mungo in New South Wales, dated to be between 50,000 and 46,000 years old.[27]
Ancient human remains discovered at Lake Mungo, New South Wales
In Western Victoria, structures from ancient Koori populations have been discovered, including stone-walled fishing traps measuring up to six metres in height and three kilometres in length.[28] The traps date to approximately 6,600 years old, making them one of the world's oldest known fish-trapping system.[28] Similarly aged "village" sites have been found in South-Eastern Victoria, featuring wooden structures, garden areas and agricultural wetlands.[29]
In New South Wales, small tools used for processing plants and hunting have been discovered to be approximately 10,000 years old.[30] Fishhooks appear to have been widely used across the Koori coastline as early as 1000 years ago.[31] These fishhooks appear to originate from outside of Australia, possibly from the Torres Strait or Polynesia, indicating a system of regional trade.[32]
Early contact
The first documented contact between Indigenous Australians and Europeans on Koori territory occurred in 1770 during James Cook's HMS Endeavour expedition.[33] In his journals, Cook documents interactions with Indigenous groups at Botany Bay near modern-day Sydney. During this initial contact, two Indigenous men resisted Cook's landing, causing Cook to open fire and wound one of the men.[34] The Endeavour remained docked in the bay for the subsequent seven days, meaning that interactions between the explorers and Indigenous Kooris were conducted from a distance.[34]
Koori material culture was observed, such as the use of watercraft, weaponry and tools, but there was little European documentation of Koori religious and cultural life during this voyage.[34] The Indigenous groups of Botany Bay did not accept Cook's trade offerings and resisted farther encroachment of the explorers onto Koori territory.[35]
European colonisation and population decline
Following this initial contact, Great Britain established a penal colony at Botany Bay in New South Wales.[33] The first settlers of this colony arrived in 1788 aboard the First Fleet, beginning the official colonisation of Australia by Europeans.[36]
Over the century following colonisation, there occurred a steep decline in the Aboriginal population.[6] Approximations of overall Indigenous population decline range from 80 to 96%,[6] with estimates of around 80% in the Koori region in the first 20 years of contact.[7]
Waterloo Creek Massacre
Generally accepted estimates approximate that 2000 non-Aboriginals (mostly Europeans) and 20,000 Aboriginals were killed in armed conflict between the two groups.[37] This included the Waterloo Creek Massacre on New South Wales Koori territory in 1837, during which an estimated 200–300 Kooris were killed.[38] In the 1830s and 40s, the Western District of Victoria was recorded as one of the two worst regions for violence.[7] Sexual violence also occurred, particularly towards Koori women and children, sometimes resulting in death or infertility.[39]
Many Kooris also died from epidemics of European diseases to which they had no tolerance.[40] In 1791, all but two of the Koori inhabitants of inner Sydney died of smallpox or chickenpox.[41] Another smallpox epidemic affected the New South Wales and Victoria regions in 1830.[7] Deaths also occurred due to sexually transmitted infections, transported to Australia by the settlers.[42] In Port Phillip, Victoria, two-thirds of the Koori population died of sexually transmitted infections.[42]
20th century
The Aborigines Protection Board of New South Wales and Victoria enabled the segregation of Kooris onto government-run missions and reserves.[43] In the 1910s, the Board's powers were extended to allow for the removal of Koori children from their families for assimilation into the non-Indigenous population.[43] Some Koori children were placed into white families, while others were sent to labour schools such as the Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls[44] and Kinchela Aboriginal Boys' Training Home.[45] This process of segregation and child-removal was common throughout Australia and became known as the Stolen Generations.[46]
In 1937, New South Wales Koori activist William Ferguson founded the Aborigines Progressive Association in Sydney to protest the oppression of the Aborigines Protection Board. Approximately 1000 Indigenous Australians attended the organisation's first rally in Sydney on 26 January 1938.[43]
From the 1970s, the policies of segregation and assimilation began to shift. New South Wales adopted the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle in 1987, mandating that an Indigenous family be chosen for the rehoming of Koori children wherever possible.[46] In 1997, the premiers of both New South Wales and Victoria apologised for the historic mistreatment of Indigenous Australians, including an apology for the Stolen Generation, and affirmed their commitment to reconciliation.[43]
Current issues
Statistics indicate ongoing divergences between Koori and non-Koori Australians in areas such as health, education, income levels, and incarceration rates.[8][47] The Australian National University's Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research ties these statistical divergences to the Indigenous experience of colonialism.[8]
Health
Statistics show that Koori Australians have poorer health than their non-Koori counterparts, reflected in their lower life expectancy. Across New South Wales and Victoria, non-Koori individuals were expected to live 8–10 years longer than Koori individuals between 2015 and 2017.[48] Thus, the Koori population is younger in demographic, with the median age of the New South Wales Koori community being 22, in contrast to 38 for the non-Koori population.[49]
In New South Wales, 7.6% of the Indigenous population are profoundly or severely disabled, compared to 5.6% of non-Indigenous individuals, and this gap is widening.[50] Additionally, New South Wales Kooris with a disability tend to be younger: 36% of the Indigenous disabled population in New South Wales is under 25, compared to 12.7% of the non-Indigenous.[50]
Education
Koori Australians also have lower levels of education than their non-Koori counterparts.[51][52] In New South Wales, Koori children are half as likely to have completed secondary school.[53] In Victoria, only 56.5% of Koori 25–34year olds have some form of tertiary education, compared to 74.9% of non-Koori individuals.[52]
Income
Koori Australians are more likely to be living below or near the poverty line.[54] Approximately 32.4% of Koori households in New South Wales earn below A$500/week, compared to 22.3% of non-Indigenous.[54] Less than half of New South Wales Kooris own their homes, compared to 70% of non-Koori residents.[55]
New South Wales Kooris are less likely to be in the labour force, with an underemployment rate of 43% compared to 35.9% of non-Koori residents.[56] The professional services industry has the highest divergence, with non-Koori employees three times as likely to work in this sector.[57]
Incarceration rates
Koori Australians are more likely to be incarcerated in both New South Wales and Victoria.[58] In 2019, Koori adults were 9.3 times more likely to be incarcerated in New South Wales than their non-Koori counterparts.[58] In Victoria, they were 14.5 times more likely.[58]
These statistics are mirrored in youth detention.[59] In New South Wales, Koori children aged 10–17 were sixteen times more likely to be in detention on an average day in 2018 and 2019.[59] In Victoria, they were 10 times as likely.[59]
Government initiatives
New South Wales and Victoria have both introduced initiatives to address these divergences between Koori and non-Koori individuals.[1] In March 2019, both states established a formal partnership with the Australian Federal Government to address the goals of the Closing the Gap initiative.[47] The partnership also includes representatives from Indigenous activist groups.[47]
A Koori Court is a division of the Magistrates' Court of Victoria that sentences Indigenous Australians who plead guilty, operational since 2002.[60][61]
New South Wales has several Youth Koori Courts, the first of which was established in Parramatta in 2015.[62][63]
Koori Radio, a community radio-station based in Redfern, broadcasts to Sydney on a citywide licence. It forms part of the Gadigal Information Service and is the only radio station in Sydney providing full-time broadcasting to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
The NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout is one of the largest gatherings of Indigenous people in Australia. A modern-day corroboree for the Koori people of NSW, it has been held annually over the October long weekend since 1971.[64]
The Koorie Heritage Trust in Melbourne holds over 100,000 artistic artefacts from Indigenous South-Eastern Australia. The Trust's collection includes prehistoric tools, 19th Century art by Koori artists William Barak and Tommy McRae, and pieces by contemporary Koori artists.[65]
The Gunaikurnai or Gunai/Kurnai people, also referred to as the Gunnai or Kurnai, are an Aboriginal Australian nation of south-east Australia. They are the Traditional Custodians of most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The Gunaikurnai nation is composed of five major clans. Many of the Gunaikurnai people resisted early European squatting and subsequent settlement during the nineteenth century, resulting in a number of deadly confrontations between Europeans and the Gunaikurnai. There are about 3,000 Gunaikurnai people alive today, predominantly living in Gippsland. The Gunaikurnai dialects are the traditional language of the Gunaikurnai people, although there are very few fluent speakers today.
A Koori Court is a separate division of the Magistrates', County and Children's Courts of Victoria, Australia. The Koori Court (Magistrates), Children's Koori Court, and County Koori Court hear selected cases, where Indigenous Australians have identified as such and requested the case be transferred to it. The first Koori Court was established in Shepparton in 2002. Koori Court aims to reduce recidivism by involving Elders, other respected persons in the Aboriginal community, and court advisors to provide information about the background of the defendant, and to advise on culturally appropriate sentences.
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Bungaree, or Boongaree, born presumably in the Rocky Point area, New South Wales, was an Aboriginal Australian from the Darug people of the Broken Bay north of Sydney, who was known as an explorer, entertainer, and Aboriginal community leader. He is also significant in that he was the first Australian born person to be recorded in Matthew Flinders' Diary as a resourceful Australian, and the first Australian-born person to circumnavigate the Australian mainland.
The Gadigal, also spelled as Cadigal and Caddiegal, are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located in Gadi, on Eora country, the location of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Dharug language, also spelt Darug, Dharuk, and other variants, and also known as the Sydney language, Gadigal language, is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin–Kuric group that was traditionally spoken in the region of Sydney, New South Wales, until it became extinct due to effects of colonisation. It is the traditional language of the Dharug people. The Dharug population has greatly diminished since the onset of colonisation. Eora language has sometimes been used to distinguish a coastal dialect from hinterland dialects, but there is no evidence that Aboriginal peoples ever used this term, which simply means "people". Some effort has been put into reviving a reconstructed form of the language.
The murnong or yam daisy is any of the plants Microseris walteri, Microseris lanceolata and Microseris scapigera, which are an important food source for many Aboriginal peoples in southern parts of Australia. Murnong is a Woiwurrung word for the plant, used by the Wurundjeri people and possibly other clans of the Kulin nation. They are called by a variety of names in the many different Aboriginal Australian languages, and occur in many oral traditions as part of Dreamtime stories.
The Bidjigal people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The land includes the Bidjigal Reserve, Salt Pan Creek and the Georges River. They are part of the Dharug language group, and there is debate as to whether the clan is part of the Dharug or Eora people.
Michael Riley was an Aboriginal Australian photographer and filmmaker, and co-founder of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative. A significant figure in contemporary Indigenous Australian art, Riley's work is held by many public art institutions, including the National Gallery of Australia.
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, which includes many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea, located in Melanesia. The term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or the person's specific cultural group, is often preferred, though the terms First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia and First Australians are also increasingly common; 812,728 people self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in the 2021 Australian Census, representing 3.2% of the total population of Australia. Of these Indigenous Australians, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal; 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; while 4.4% identified with both groups. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag have been official flags of Australia.
Colin Thomas Johnson, better known by his nom de plume Mudrooroo, was an Australian novelist, poet, essayist and playwright. His many works are centred on Aboriginal Australian characters and topics; however, there was some doubt cast upon his claims to have Aboriginal ancestry.
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The Gumbaynggirr people, also rendered Kumbainggar, Gumbangeri and other variant spellings, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Gumbathagang was a probable clan or sub-group. The traditional lands of the Gumbaynggirr nation stretch from Tabbimoble Yamba-Clarence River to Ngambaa-Stuarts Point, SWR- Macleay to Guyra and to Oban.
The Redfern All Blacks, also known as RABs or Redfern, are an Indigenous Australian semi-professional rugby league club based in Redfern, New South Wales, They are a part of the South Sydney District Junior Rugby Football League.
Indigenous health in Australia examines health and wellbeing indicators of Indigenous Australians compared with the rest of the population. Statistics indicate that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are much less healthy than other Australians. Various government strategies have been put into place to try to remediate the problem; there has been some improvement in several areas, but statistics between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the Australian population still show unacceptable levels of difference.
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NSW Koori Rugby League Knockout Carnival is one of the biggest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. The first knockout was held at Camdenville Park, St Peters, on the October long weekend of 1971 with seven participating teams. The winning team gains the right to host the next knockout. Organisers created the knockout to provide further access for Indigenous players to state rugby league.
The Youth Koori Court (YKC) is a court tailored to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people who engage with the criminal justice system in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It operates out of the Children's Court of New South Wales. The first such court was established in the western Sydney suburb of Parramatta in 2015, with another created in Surry Hills to serve the city of Sydney in early 2019, and the first regional YKC established in Dubbo in 2022. The YKC involves older members of the Aboriginal community to help the youths to engage with their culture, among other measures.
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Maree Clarke is an Australian multidisciplinary artist and curator from Victoria, renowned for her work in reviving south-eastern Aboriginal Australian art practices.
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