Whadjuk Nyoongar and the City of Perth

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Captain Stirling and his party arrived at Kuraree on 12 August 1829, and marked the site of the future City of Perth by felling a tree. This event began a period of conflict over land and resources. For the dispossessed Whadjuk Nyoongar, life would never be the same again. The settlers, with their houses, fences and roads, their crops and their animals, took over the land and stopped access to traditional hunting and gathering places.

Chris Pease, Land Release 3 2008. The artist shows how British land tenure was imposed on Nyoongar Country. City of Perth Cultural Collections
Chris Pease, Land Release 3 2008. The artist shows how British land tenure was imposed on Nyoongar Country. City of Perth Cultural Collections

Nevertheless, over the years Whadjuk Nyoongar have continued to fight for recognition and asserted traditional ownership of the area where the city stands. 

The Aborigines Protection Act of 1905 gave power over all aspects of Aboriginal people’s lives to a ‘Protector’. This included employment and wages, where they could live, who they could marry, and often children were taken away from their parents to be brought up in institutions such as Moore River Settlement. From 1927, central Perth was a prohibited area. Aboriginal people needed permits to enter the city and were arrested if found there after the 6pm curfew. 

A permit allowing the holder to be in the prohibited area
A permit allowing the holder to be in the prohibited area

City of Perth Elder Margaret Culbong remembers those days.

We hardly went into Perth because we were only allowed in parts because of the racism and discrimination. My Dad worked on the railways and got a free pass on the train into Perth. That street that ran past the station, we were really only allowed to go. The corner of Barrack Street and Wellington is where we used to sit. Dad and Mum did business and went to Perth for medical business. We would sit on the seat and watch all the traffic go past.

We only went down Barrack Street if we went to the government garden. We had to walk on one side of Barrack Street past the Town Hall, not the other side. Weren’t allowed to do that. We went into the government gardens. Walking on the right side, never on the left side of Barrack Street. Because of all those restrictions. Racism and oppression.

City of Perth Elder Margaret Culbong

Over the years, various Aboriginal organisations, mostly based in East Perth, such as the Coolbaroo League formed in 1947, provided social services and campaigned for Aboriginal rights. When the prohibited area was finally abolished in 1954, the Coolbaroo League lost no time in reclaiming the City of Perth by hiring the Town Hall for their Royal Show Gala Ball.

Today, the City of Perth acknowledges that it is on Whadjuk Nyoongar land and City of Perth Elders have contributed to developing the content for this exhibition.

Crochet shield in Aboriginal colours, by City of Perth Elder Margaret Culbong.

I do a lot of crocheting – beanies and that sort of thing. Get the cheaper wool when I can pick it up. I had this wool left over and I thought maybe I should make something with it. I thought the City of Perth had all their coat of arms whatsit things. I thought I’d do one too. Thought I might as well crochet a shield. At the time it didn’t really mean anything and no real significance, but then as I went along with the crochet it did begin to matter. It became something. It mattered. It had the white man’s shape and size but it was putting our mark and our claim on our country.

Margaret Culbong

City of Perth Cultural Collections.

Find out more about Aboriginal culture and heritage in the City of Perth at Perth Online

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Cabinet of Curiosities

Advertising poster for a pantomime at the Town Hall in 1895. City of Perth Collection.
Programme from 1921 for a concert to raise funds for the ‘starving children of Central Europe’. City of Perth Collection.
Daily Newsboy’s cap and bag. Steve Weeks had the Town Hall corner pitch for selling the Daily News in the 1960s. He got a ha’penny for each paper sold for sixpence. Lent by Steve Weeks.
Programme for a film screening by the Amateur Cine Society in 1949. City of Perth Collection.
This shovel is said to have been used to turn the first sod on the Town Hall site. City of Perth Collection.
Advertising postcard showing the Perth Town Hall. This postcard advertised a printing company, Star Press, which operated in Perth through the 1920s and 1930s. SLWA 7197B.
W.E. Bold’s invitation to a civic luncheon for H.R.H. The Prince of Wales in 1920. This was the future Edward VIII and the visit was to thank Australians for their support during the First World War. Mr Bold was the Town Clerk at the time. City of Perth Collection.
Costume jewellery like this was worn for formal functions and dances at the Town Hall. Lent by Steve Weeks.
A collection of toy cars. Hobbies featured in many shows at the Perth Town Hall.
A civic dinner held in honour of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Adelaide, Mr and Mrs Reginald Walker, Perth Town Hall, 1945. The floral decorations and potted palms probably came from the City of Perth’s Victoria Park Nursery, Trafalgar Road, East Perth. City of Perth Collection.
From the 1920s to the 1950s, the shops under the Town Hall included tea rooms. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Medals are often issued to commemorate events. This medal was given by Mayor George Shenton to Perth schoolchildren to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. City of Perth Collection
An extract from George Grey’s journal, where he describes Nyoongar songs. National Library of South Africa, Capetown.
A keen audience of young cricketers at a lecture by Arthur Richardson, 22 October 1927. Arthur Richardson was a well-known South Australian cricketer. He came to Perth in 1927 to play and coach for the West Australian team. SLWA 100166PD.
Lanyard and security pass from the second Perth Fringe Festival 2012. The Town Hall and the derelict Old Treasury Buildings were both venues that year, while the space between them was fenced off for the bar and festival hub.
A newspaper cutting about retired engineer and model-builder James Lang of Mt Lawley turning to clock making.
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