Not too late to acknowledge Rottnest Island’s dark history

By PETER ROWE

* Readers are advised that this content contains images and names of individuals who have passed away.

Almost 4,000 Aboriginal men and boys were locked up on WA’s Rottnest Island between 1838 and 1931.

It’s a story very few West Australians today know of.

Rottnest today is a tourist hotspot – attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal became the unintended faces of a WA tourism push.

But the island has a very dark history and last week about 250 Indigenous people gathered for ceremonies to honour those who had died.

Even Premier Roger Cook saw fit to be there, apologising for what had happened.

The Rottnest Island Deaths Group Aboriginal Corporation [RIDGAC] was formed some time ago to fight for recognition.

And Iva Hayward-Jackson, a member of the group, told the ABC 50 years work had gone into getting recognition.

“Aboriginal communities across Western Australia with connections to Wadjemup’s history have been provided the opportunity by the steering group to participate in consultation as part of the project. This included members of RIDGAC,” a spokesperson for the WA State government said in a statement.

But many say not enough has been done to educate people about the incarceration on Rottnest Island a long time ago.

It was a one-way ticket for so many.

The first six Aboriginal prisoners were transferred to the island in 1838.

The barbaric treatment of prisoners led to its closure in 1849, but six years later it reopened where more than 3,000 prisoners were then sent there over a period of time.

And despite ‘closing’ in 1902, but it was soon transferred to become an annex of Fremantle prison and the brutality continued.

Maitland Narrier was the last prisoner taken to Rottnest Island in 1931.

Remains were discovered on the island in the 1990s as tourism took hold and hotels were being built.

Today we talk, quite rightly, about deaths in custody, but on Rottnest, almost 400 died. This is the biggest deaths in custody case in Australia – and sadly it has become largely forgotten.

OK, so efforts are now being made to redress that, but more consultation with community is needed – now.