Visiting Balbuk

Year 12 students from St Brigid’s College in Perth’s Hills visited Government House Gardens today as part of their Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies class. The course focuses on the contribution to culture, history and stories by the First Nations People of Australia.

Students undertook a walk of the City that looked at past, present and future perspectives, focussing specifically on the Wadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. As part of their experience, the class visited the statue of Fanny Bulbuk Yooreel.

Ms Cathy Santarelli and her class.

“The excursion our Aboriginal and Intercultural Studies class took this week was a unique experience for everyone. Visiting Government House and the statue of Fanny Balbuk Yooreel was eye opening and amazing to see how Aboriginal peoples, especially women their history and culture are now being recognised. It is important to recognise and understand the past and present of Indigenous culture and how we can move forward in the future.”

• Ruby

 “I was very fascinated by the Fanny Balbuk Yooreel. I liked the positioning of the statue with the map of Perth’s waters in front of her. I liked how her digging stick was included and that she was also bare footed.”

• Dwoki 

“We learned about Fanny Balbuk Yooreel and the history of the statue in class prior to the excursion but being able to see the statue in person at the Government House was such an amazing experience! It was so fascinating learning and hearing the stories of why she plays such an important role in Perth.”

• Lilah

 “She was truly an inspiring Woman, it is warriors like Fanny that make us proud to be Aboriginal. The way they displayed Fanny in this sculpture really captures her strong and determined personality. They did an amazing job displaying the strong woman Fanny was. I feel honoured to have seen Fanny’s statue in person, her powerful presence and inspiring stories that tell of her strong personality have been captured perfectly in the statue.” 

• Keneesha

“I thought it was very amazing to see the first statue of an Aboriginal Woman Fanny Bulbuk Yooreel. It shows her holding a digging stick which represents her culture in Perth today, we learnt so much about her both in class and with the interesting brochures we were given at the Government House.”

• Abbey

View all Articles