Kuraree

Koorarree

Description & Location

The name for the area where the Perth Town Hall now stands. The name was recorded by the ethnographer Daisy Bates from a principal advisor on Aboriginal culture and language, Baabur (also known as George Eliot) from the Vasse region, during Bates’ initial enquiries relating to the traditional Aboriginal site names throughout the state. 

Kuraree was often the meeting place for families, where song and dance would welcome them together. Ke-ning (corroboree) are songs and dances that share kaartdijin (knowledge) while acknowledging and celebrating moort (family) and the boodja (land) of Noongar people. 

In March 1833, a type of ke-ning called a jeena middar was held at Kuraree to welcome visitors to Noongar boodja. It occurred on the site where the Old Perth Technical School now stands (137 Saint George’s Terrace). Jeena middar is not only a way to welcome people to boodja, but also to communicate how boodja should be cared for, who has the right to use it, and who are welcome to visit and stay in the area.

The site of Kuraree also held a deep connection for Fanny Balbuk, a well-known Noongar historical figure who passed away in 1907 at the age of 64.  Balbuk’s grandmother was buried around or under Government House, which was inaccessible to Balbuk due to the House’s stone gates and sentry. Daisy Bates recorded how Balbuk would “stand at the gates of Government House, cursing everyone within,” as she was prevented from visiting.

References

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/166, Notebook 15, p. 100.

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/179, Notebook 20, p. 63.

Bates, D. Manuscript 365/4/180, Notebook 20, p. 64.

City of Perth. Wadjuk Trail Map. May 2014, https://perth.azureedge.net/-/media/Project/COP/COP/COP/Documents-and-Forms/Live-and-Work/Documents/Community-Groups/Walking-Tours_-This-city-is-Wadjuk-country_PDF.pdf?la=en&modified=20181128030450&hash=EDB8269CFD95D89F8EE9F15C1A3BB76B61EC53DD 

Western Australian Museum. Fanny Balbuk. 2014, http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/wetlands/aboriginal-context/fanny-balbuk

Maps

State Records Office of WA. Cons993. 1927/0038. Plan of Prohibited Area, Perth.