Rottnest's future discussed
PERTH — In early June, Rottnest Island or Wadjemup was the site of a four day ceremonial meeting of Aboriginal people. Delegates came from all regions of Western Australia to discuss the island's future and what action was needed to rest the spirits of their ancestors.
Wadjemup lies off the coast about 10 km west of Fremantle. To most people, it is a holiday destination. Recently, the local Aboriginal people have made the darker side of its history more public. From the mid-1800s to 1903, Wadjemup was the state's main Aboriginal prison — a death camp for Aboriginal people.
Nyungahs from all over WA were taken to Wadjemup for offences as trivial as stealing meat. The prisoners were kept in chains like slaves and forced to cut limestone blocks for the island's buildings. They were forced to sleep chained, 33 to a cell. Many died in such conditions.
"Our peoples' graves were made part of the camp site", said Robert Bropho, a Nyungah delegate from the Swan Valley.
"People were drinking, smoking having sex on top of the graves; there were no signs or markings to say that people were buried underneath. The area where whites were buried in the corner of the quad is marked as a cemetery, so why not the rest of it? Also, the graves have been excavated several times during construction work."
The June meeting agreed unanimously that: Wadjemup be given back to the full authority and control of the Nyungah people; an official Aboriginal cemetery be established; the quad area be recognised as the old jail and placed into full custody of Aboriginal people; other areas be radar-examined to find any other graves; a meeting camp for the state's Aboriginal people be established; the history of Wadjemup be researched and recorded accurately.
"The white governments have had 90 years to show respect for these graves, yet they're still disrespecting them. We have to claim what they can't look after", Bropho concluded.