Cooee facts for kids
Cooee! (pronounced "koo-EE") is a special shout that started in Australia. People use it to get someone's attention, find friends who are lost, or let others know where they are. When you shout "Cooee!" loudly and clearly, it can travel a very long way!
This unique call can be heard over long distances. It's also known as a call for help, standing out from other sounds in the Australian bush.
The word "Cooee" comes from the Dharug language. This language was spoken by Indigenous Australians (the first people of Australia) who lived around the Sydney area. They used this call to talk to each other from far away. It was usually a long, loud shout that ended with a high-pitched "ee" sound.
Later, people who settled in Australia also started using the "Cooee" call. It became a common signal, especially in the bush. The call means "come here" and is still widely used across Australia today.
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How Cooee Started and Is Used
Since "Cooee" comes from Aboriginal languages, it has likely been used by some Indigenous peoples for thousands of years.
Early Mentions of the Cooee Call
The first time "Cooee" was written down was in the papers of Daniel Southwell. He was an officer on the ship HMS Sirius, which sailed with the First Fleet to Australia in 1788. Southwell wrote in his journal about the Aboriginal people near Sydney. He even listed "Coo-sé, Cō-cé, Cō-eé, Cō-é" as ways to say "to come" in their language.
In 1802, explorer Francis Barrallier also wrote about local Aboriginal people using the "Cooee" call. This happened near what is now Oakdale, New South Wales.
Cooee in the Bush
Another explorer, Thomas Mitchell, wrote about "Cooee" in 1832. He explained that Aboriginal people used loud "cooeys" to announce their arrival when approaching a camp. Mitchell noted that this call was much more useful than the English "holla" or "halloo." He said it was used by everyone in New South Wales.
Mitchell's notes show that "Cooee" was used by Aboriginal people beyond the Sydney coast. By the 1830s, it was also commonly used by settlers across Australia.
Cooee Around the World
The "Cooee" call even reached other parts of the world. In 1852, Reverend John West, a writer and missionary, said that "cooey" was heard in parts of London. By 1864, an English dictionary of slang mentioned "Cooey" as an Australian bush-call heard in London streets.
The famous writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used "cooee" in one of his Sherlock Holmes stories, "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" (1891). Holmes recognized the call as an Australian one, which helped him solve the mystery.
In 1917, the poet Edward Thomas said "coo-ee" to his wife Helen when he left for World War I. He never returned, and this moment is remembered in Glasgow.
"Within Cooee" Slang
In Australian English, the phrase "within cooee" means "within a manageable distance" or "not too far away." It's often used to say something is NOT close. For example, if someone says, "You're not even within cooee," it means you are a long way off.
You might hear it like this: "They realized they were lost and there was no one within cooee." It can also be used for ideas or guesses, like: "How much did they spend?" "Five thousand dollars?" "You're not even within cooee—it was twenty-five thousand!"
The Cooee March
The word "Cooee" has also been used for many groups, places, and events. One of the most famous is the Cooee March during the First World War.
In 1915, 35 men from Gilgandra, New South Wales, started a march to Sydney. This was a long journey of about 766 kilometers (476 miles). They called out "Cooee!" to encourage other men to join them and enlist in the army. A poster from that time read: "Coo-ee – Won't you come?"
By the time they reached Sydney on December 12, the group had grown to 277 men. Today, Gilgandra still holds a yearly Cooee Festival in October to remember this important event. Other Cooee Festivals also happen across Australia.
The "Cooee" call became an important way to show Australian national pride. It also spread to other countries in the British Empire, like New Zealand and South Africa.
