Fanny Balbuk

Fanny Balbuk (1840–1907), also known as Yooreel, was a prominent Whadjuk woman who lived in Perth, Western Australia during the early years of the Swan River Colony. She is remembered for her commitment to Aboriginal land rights, and for her hostile reactions to the buildings, fences, and homes erected as Perth increased in size and encroached on land that she still considered belonged to her people.

Early life Balbuk, who was sometimes recorded as Yooreel, was born on Matagarup (Heirisson Island) in the Swan River, near the causeway on Whadjuk country Balbuk was a descendant of Yellagonga, and her traditional land covers the area that has become the Perth central business district area. She would collect gilgies and vegetables from the swampy areas around what is now central Perth. Daisy Bates wrote "one of her favourite annoyances was to stand at the gates of Government House, reviling all who dwelt within, in that the stone gates guarded by a sentry enclosed her grandmother's burial ground".

Noongar elder Noel Nannup tells a similar story: "That was her songline, her dreaming. She just kept going and didn’t take any notice of the new city going up. That’s a story of defiance and determination".

Death Balbuk died of heart failure at the Colonial Hospital, Perth on 20 March 1907.

Legacy She is remembered for her commitment to Aboriginal land rights, and for her hostile reactions to British colonialism as it impacted the traditional Noongar culture.

Balbuk passed on information to Bates about traditional Nyoongar lands around Perth, which proved significant in the 2006 native title claim, when the Federal Court of Australia found that Nyoongar people held Native Title rights over the Perth area.