New database sheds light on the stolen generation of Carrolup Settlement near Katanning

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that this article contains images of people who have died. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this program may contain images and voices of people who have died. Information on the names and deaths of Indigenous people forced into a government-run settlement near Katanning in the early 20th century is now publicly available, including details of hundreds of men, women, and children. The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries has released a database with the names of Indigenous people admitted into Carrolup Settlement between 1915 and 1922 and the deaths recorded there and the nearby Katanning Cemetery until 1949. Located about 25 minutes west of Katanning, the 4360ha settlement detained more than 400 people of all ages over its seven-year tenure and housed members of the stolen generation in its later years as Carrolup Mission and Marribank Baptist Mission. Initially conceived as a self-supporting scheme to house, educate and employ Aboriginal people, the settlement eventuated into little more than a prison camp where children were put in a fenced compound and adults were forced to work for little or no pay. Their removal was enabled under the Aborigines Act 1905, which also permitted officials to put settlement members in confinement for days and to inflict corporal punishment on children. At least 100 deaths took place at the Carrolup Settlement, with children and infants making up more than half this number. Released on Sunday, Sorry Day, the database aims to help the descendants of the affected people and those who are interested in learning about the sordid history of early relations between Indigenous people and colonials in Western Australia. Department director-general Lanie Chopping said transparency was the first step of healing. “The forcible removal of Aboriginal people from their families and communities on to missions, reserves and government-run settlements such as Carrolup is a harsh reality of our shared history,” she said. “Western Australia has the largest number of removals nationally and today has the largest numbers of Stolen Generations descendants. “National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generation survivors and their descendants and to reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process. “While we cannot change the past, we can acknowledge it with projects and initiatives such as this, which help ensure our Aboriginal history is not lost and is available for current and future generations.” Work to transform the property from a site of trauma to one of a memorial has been ongoing with former residents pushing for restoration and repurposing of the site. Carrolup has seen many iterations over the years, serving as a settlement until 1922, then closing for 17 years and reopening in 1939. A decade later it transitioned to the Marribank Farm Training School, before being handed over to the Baptist Church in 1952 which operated the site as the Marribank Baptist Mission (later renamed Marribank Family Centre) until its closure in 1989. Visit the DLGSC website to view the database.