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. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal clan, Worimi nation, Gathang language|Awabakal]]. 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". 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. 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. Most of this Koori population speak English in the home, although a small number do report continued usage of traditional Indigenous languages.
Koori culture is characterised by a commitment to the Dreaming, an overall worldview that believes in and values interconnectedness between the land and community. 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. The legacy of colonisation is still strongly felt, and has had ongoing ramifications for Koori life and wellbeing.
Etymology
"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. On the far north coast of New South Wales, the term may still be spelt "goori" or "goorie" and pronounced with a harder "g". The term's first documented usage occurred in 1834 in An Australian Grammar as "Ko-re", translated to mean man or mankind.
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.
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. Some Koori elders identify this style as a means of reconnecting with traditional Indigenous culture and ancestry.
More unique to the Koori population is the prevalence of artistic "shell craft", using shells found in the coastal environment to decorate ornamental pieces. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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". Although the craft of possum-skin cloaks has declined, it is being revived by contemporary Koori artists such as Kelly Koumalatsos.
Language
The Koori region is home to a number of traditional Indigenous languages. The state of Victoria has speakers of 38 Aboriginal languages, while New South Wales has historically been home to more than 70. 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.