Koorie Heritage – Koorie Index of Names Project

Click here for a PDF version (209k)

Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) holds many records containing information about Aboriginal people and their history in Victoria. In 2007 PROV commenced the Koorie Index of Names (KIN) indexing project as a response to recommendations in the wilam naling report of 2006. The report urged PROV to ‘undertake an indexing project of all relevant Victorian records in its custody to produce an Indigenous name index.’

The KIN project is being led by the Koorie Records Unit (KRU) with indexing support provided by the PROV Volunteers Program. The KIN project aims to improve access to records containing information about Aboriginal people held by PROV, which will not only assist Aboriginal people to find information about themselves, but also about their families and their country.

What information does KIN contain?

· Names of Aboriginal people

· Names of non-Aboriginal people related to or associated with Aboriginal people

· Names of missions and institutions where Aboriginal people were placed

· Places where Aboriginal people have lived or visited

The index itself does not contain personal information about the people named. To see this information researchers will need to actually order the records concerned for viewing in the reading room of the Victorian Archives Centre (VAC) at 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne.

Example record
An excerpt from a notice of the upcoming auction of Percy Pepper’s soldier settlement farm. To our knowledge Percy is the only Aboriginal soldier in Victoria to receive a soldier settlement block after serving in World War I.

PROV, VPRS 5714/P0, Unit 2508, Allotment 26

To find out more about Percy Pepper, see our publication Footprints that tells the story of Lucy and Percy Pepper’s life through the records held by PROV and National Archives of Australia.

For further information please refer to the KRU webpage www.prov.vic.gov.au/about/kru

Cultural sensitivity warning

Researchers are warned that the files may contain distressing or offensive information and images of deceased people. The files were created by government officials many years ago and are written in the language of the day. They can be culturally insensitive.

What records are being indexed?

The KIN project is indexing records across PROV’s collection that have specific relevance to Victorian Aboriginal people. Records identified as having a high degree of relevance to Victorian Aboriginal people will be indexed in phase one of the KIN project. Other records containing information about Aboriginal people will be reviewed and indexed on a case by case basis.

Some of the records identified as being of high relevance in PROV’s collection are:

VPRS 1694 Correspondence Files, 1867 - 1946 [Board for the Protection of Aborigines 1889–1931]

See also: National Archives of Australia series B313 for other files in this series.

VPRS 10768 Register and Index of Inward Correspondence, 1909 - 1939 [Board for the Protection of Aborigines 1909–1941]. For an earlier register consult National Archives of Australia series B328.

VPRS 926 Letter Book Coranderrk [Board for the Protection of Aborigines 1898–1924].

VPRS 90 Daybook of the Native Police Corps, Narre Warren, 1845–1853. Available on microfilm at the Victorian Archives Centre.

VPRS 11 Inward Unregistered Correspondence to the Chief Protector of Aborigines - Reports and Returns, 1847–1851. Available online.

VPRS 10 Inward Registered Correspondence to the Superintendent of Port Phillip District, relating to Aboriginal Affairs, 1839–1851. Available online.

Most of the above records were created between 1839 to 1946, with more extensive holdings from the period 1839 to 1859. The records were created by government agencies managing Aboriginal people residing on Victorian Aboriginal mission stations. These records contain a wide range of information about Aboriginal people, such as medical and education reports, correspondence, employment details, meeting minutes, annual reports, police reports, the issuing of provisions, clothing and rations, and records of the movement of Aboriginal people across Victoria.

Accessing the KIN database

The KIN database is available through the reading room at the Victorian Archives Centre at 99 Shiel Street North Melbourne. The reading room is open from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm Monday to Friday (except for public holidays) and two Saturdays per month. No appointment is necessary to access the KIN database. See www.prov.vic.gov.au/contact.asp for details of PROV's Saturday openings and for an online map showing the location of the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne.

Searching the KIN database

Background information

You may not know many details about the person you are researching, but the more background information you have, the easier it will be for you to determine if there are relevant references to the person or family you are seeking. The following kinds of details can assist you to locate people on the KIN database:

· Name of the person you are researching: including any variations in the spelling of given names, nicknames, or Aboriginal traditional names

· Family connections: the name of any parents, brothers, sisters or other relatives

· Language group, country or homeland: sometimes used to identify people

· Places: where the person was born, lived, worked, or was sent to

· Significant dates or ages: date of birth, age at events, or date of death of the person

· Time periods: the year or period the person was in a certain place or area, such as the period they lived on an Aboriginal mission station

· Significant events that may have occurred in the person’s life, such as being evacuated because of Aboriginal mission closures or war

Using the database

Step 1 Searching

· Click on the KIN database heading to open the search screen.

· Enter text to search for one or more fields below, and press Search as in the example below. A portion of the results for this search are shown below.

Step 2 Search results

The search results screen displays summary details of each match found, as in the example below, and a reference to the Series (VPRS), Consignment (P), Unit, Item and Page numbers.

If a large number of results are found on a particular search, you can refine the search by returning to the search screen and adding additional information such as a date range, place, alternative names etc.

A search result may contain entries for Mr, Mrs, Miss, Unnamed Adult, Unnamed Child or Unnamed Family. This means there were no names recorded in the documents. However where possible, links to relatives or friends also mentioned in the record have been established to help researchers determine if an entry is relevant to their enquiry.

Hint: Further advice about using the KIN database is available by clicking on the Help menu.

Step 3 Ordering and viewing records

When you have located entries for the individuals you are researching make a note of the following details: Series (VPRS), Consignment (P), Unit, Item and Page numbers, displayed in the last column of each entry. For example:

· Records from VPRS 10 or VPRS 11 can be viewed online.

· Records from VPRS 90 can be viewed on a microfiche copy, VPRS 5519, at the Victorian Archives Centre reading room, and do not have to be ordered.

· Records from VPRS 1694, VPRS 10768, and VPRS 90 can be ordered on PROV's online catalogue for viewing at the VAC reading room.

To order the records for viewing at the VAC reading room:

· go to PROV's online catalogue at www.access.prov.vic.gov.au and log in or set up a PROV user account if you do not already have one

· order the relevant file through Direct Order or by navigating to the corresponding series page, and ordering from the Consignment list.

See PROVguide 21 Ordering Records and PROVguide 19 Registering and Maintaining a Public User Account for information about using PROV's online catalogue to order records.

Viewing records at PROV

Records ordered on PROV's online catalogue at www.access.prov.vic.gov.au are delivered to the VAC reading room on weekdays and on Saturday openings (two per month) at the following times: 9.30 am, 11.00 am, 2.00pm and 3.30 pm.

Records are held in the VAC reading room for up to 10 working days before being returned to the repository. Separate areas are available for researchers who wish to view the records in private – just ask our reference staff.

The Victorian Archives Centre is located at 99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne. See www.prov.vic.gov.au/contact.asp for details of PROV's Saturday openings and for an online map showing the location of the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne.

Contact us

The KRU can provide advice and assistance to researchers wishing to access the KIN database. Phone: 03 9348 5773 or tollfree 1800 657 452, Monday to Friday except public holidays.

KRU webpage

To find out more about the KRU, subscribe to our electronic newsletter (email subscription request to ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au) and visit our webpage www.prov.vic.gov.au/about/kru.

For more information about researching Aboriginal records at PROV see PROVguide 65 Aboriginal Records at PROV.