Fanny Balbuk

Daisy Bates described how the arrival of Europeans, their appropriation of traditional lands and tracks of the Noongar traditional owners affected prominent Noongar woman Fanny Balbuk who lived from 1840 to 1907:

"To the end of her life she raged and stormed at the usurping of her beloved home ground. ….. a straight track led to the place where once she had gathered jilgies and vegetable food with the women, in the swamp where  Perth railway station now stands. Through fences and over them, Balbuk took the straight track to the end. When a house was built in the way, she broke its fence-palings with her digging stick and charged up the steps and through the rooms." [6]