A Centenary of Mourning: The Forrest River Massacre Remembered
"The commemoration was not about assigning blame but about acknowledging the event as part of Australian history."
A centenary commemoration for the 1926 Forrest River massacre was held at the site of the former Forrest River Mission in remote northern Western Australia. The event was attended by descendants of the victims and representatives of the Western Australia Police.
Background
In 1926, a white pastoralist named Frederick Hay was fatally wounded by an Aboriginal man named Lumbia during an altercation. A party of 13 police and civilians subsequently conducted a search for Lumbia.
According to a 1927 Royal Commission, the group killed at least 11 Aboriginal people at three separate sites during the operation. The killings involved shooting and burning of bodies. The Royal Commission also noted that some 30 Aboriginal people who had been visiting the mission had not been seen since June 1926. Forensic evidence presented to the commission included charred bone, pieces of teeth, and an improvised oven made of flat stones.
No one was convicted for the killings. Murder charges against the police officers were dismissed. Lumbia was jailed for the stabbing of Hay.
Some estimates suggest the death toll may be higher than the 11 reported by the Royal Commission. Some writers have challenged the narrative of the massacre, citing inconsistencies in evidence and attacks by Aboriginal people.
The Anglican Forrest River Mission was established in 1913. The community that grew from it, Oombulgurri, was closed by the Western Australian Government in 2010.
Commemoration Event
Descendants and police gathered at a memorial cross on a hill overlooking the old mission site, which is the only marker of the massacre. The centenary commemoration included a smoking ceremony.
Statements
Ronnie Morgan, chairman of the Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation and descendant of survivors, stated that the commemoration was not about assigning blame but about acknowledging the event as part of Australian history. He described the police acknowledgement as helping provide "a bit of closure."
Colin Morgan, a descendant, recounted family oral history that police ordered people to gather firewood, then shot them and threw them on the pile.
WA Police Superintendent John Hutchison read a statement acknowledging the massacre as "one of the most confronting chapters in the history of policing in Western Australia" and said that police authority must be exercised lawfully, ethically, and with humanity. He expressed regret for the pain caused.