Koori

[3] Most of this Koori population speak English in the home, although a small number do report continued usage of traditional Indigenous languages.

[5] Koori art and literature continue to be produced in contemporary Australia, often with reference to traditional Indigenous artistic techniques.

[8] "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.

[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.

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".

[23] Some grammatical elements of Koori English may persist from traditional Indigenous languages, such as distinct ways of marking plural nouns.

[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.

[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] 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] Similarly aged "village" sites have been found in South-Eastern Victoria, featuring wooden structures, garden areas and agricultural wetlands.

[31] These fishhooks appear to originate from outside of Australia, possibly from the Torres Strait or Polynesia, indicating a system of regional trade.

[32] The first documented contact between Indigenous Australians and Europeans on Koori territory occurred in 1770 during James Cook's HMS Endeavour expedition.

[34] 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] The Indigenous groups of Botany Bay did not accept Cook's trade offerings and resisted farther encroachment of the explorers onto Koori territory.

[42] The Aborigines Protection Board of New South Wales and Victoria enabled the segregation of Kooris onto government-run missions and reserves.

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] 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] Statistics show that Koori Australians have poorer health than their non-Koori counterparts, reflected in their lower life expectancy.

[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.

[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.

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 Koori region
Possum-skin cloak of Wurundgeri origin
Ancient human remains discovered at Lake Mungo, New South Wales
Waterloo Creek massacre