Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground Conservation Project

Before the sea rose some 6,500 years ago, Wadjemup, also known as Rottnest Island, was joined to the mainland. The oral history of the Whadjuk Nyoongar people documents their ancestors walking to Wadjemup to perform ceremony and care for Country.

Rottnest Island was used as an Aboriginal prison between 1838 and 1903, closing its doors in 1904. It is recorded that over 370 Aboriginal men and boys imprisoned during this period, died on Rottnest Island and are buried at the site known as the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground.

This is the largest known deaths in custody gravesite in Australia and is extremely sacred for Aboriginal people as it contains the remains of Aboriginal Elders, Law Men and Warriors from almost every Aboriginal Language Group in Western Australia.

The conservation and acknowledgement of the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground is an important step in aiding in the healing process for Western Australian Aboriginal people and delivering a significant commitment to reconciliation from the State.

An initial Westpac Community Grant allowed the Rottnest Foundation to begin the process of Aboriginal consultation.  Following from this the Foundation was then able to secure a grant of over $500,000 from Lotterywest to commence conservation activities on the burial ground site.

Since 2020, the Rottnest Island Authority (RIA) have been responsible for the ongoing conservation of the Burial Ground, and wider acknowledgement and reconciliation of the Aboriginal prison history on Wadjemup, as part of the Wadjemup Project.

The Wadjemup Project is a state-wide Aboriginal-led project facilitated by the RIA with support from the Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

This project aims to formally acknowledge the island’s Aboriginal history through: 

• Truth Telling - to acknowledge Wadjemup's history of Aboriginal incarceration and its role in the colonisation of WA; 

• Ceremony - to facilitate healing in line with Aboriginal cultural protocol; and 

• Memorialisation - of the former prison sites on Wadjemup, including the Quod and the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground.

To find out more about the Aboriginal culture and history of Wadjemup/Rottnest Island, including the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground, please click here.