Wadjemup Wirin Bidi: A landmark ceremony for healing and reconciliation

Aboriginal people from communities across Western Australia have gathered on Wadjemup / Rottnest Island for Wadjemup Wirin Bidi (Spirit Trail in Noongar), for a ceremonial week to carry out Sorry Business and commemorate the Aboriginal men and boys who were imprisoned on the island between 1838 and 1931. 

Wadjemup was used as a place of incarceration, segregation and forced labour for Aboriginal men and boys who were forcibly taken from regions across Western Australia. State records indicate that 3,700 Aboriginal men and boys were imprisoned on the island. At least 373 of these prisoners died in custody and are buried on Wadjemup. 

From 4 to 8 November, private cultural ceremonies were held on Wadjemup and Manjaree / Bathers Beach, Fremantle, to facilitate healing for Aboriginal people, and to allow them to lay to rest the bodies of those men and boys who are buried on Wadjemup and to free their spirits. 

Approximately 200 Aboriginal men and women from across the State attended these private ceremonies. 

A public Commemoration Ceremony, held on 9 November, concluded the week-long  private men’s and women’s ceremonies, with people gathering on Wadjemup. The ceremony’s program included truth-telling from Traditional Owners and Elders, presentations from Aboriginal communities across Western Australia, Yarning Circles and cultural activities.  

Wadjemup Wirin Bidi is a significant milestone of the broader Wadjemup Project, which aims to formally deliver truth-telling, ceremony, and commemoration strategies to acknowledge and reconcile the Aboriginal prison history on Wadjemup. The project is Aboriginal-led, facilitated by Rottnest Island Authority and supported by Department of Premier and Cabinet. 

Managing the Wadjemup Project is a key initiative of the Rottnest Island Management Plan 2023-28.

Lean more about the Wadjemup Project