Remnants of Western Australia’s colonial past can be seen throughout the state. Streets, landmarks and entire regions bear the names of settlers who committed violence against Indigenous Australians. John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School isn’t an exception.

The Mirrabooka school was named after European settler John Septimus Roe — known among West Australians as the talented surveyor who mapped Perth, and less so for his involvement in the Pinjarra Massacre. He is also commemorated in the names of Roe Street and Roe Highway.

Traditional land owner of Bindajareb Park in Pinjarra, and Murray Districts Aboriginal Association chair, Karrie-Anne Kearing said the school needs to consider the impact its name has.

“Through history, kids need to be told the truth. They are learning under a someone’s name who isn’t a person you want to look up to,” she said.

The Pinjarra Massacre

According to the Heritage Council of WA, on October 28, 1834, a group of 25 soldiers and settlers led by Captain James Stirling and John Septimus Roe ambushed a Bindjareb Nyungar Camp by the Murray River. The ambush followed growing tensions between settlers and the Bindjareb Nyungar people amid food shortages. Gunfire is said to have lasted for almost an hour.

In his diaries, John Septimus Roe claimed that there were between 15 and 20 Bindjareb people killed in the massacreand one settler died.

But a Perth Gazette account of the massacre from Nov 1, 1834, noted that Indigenous people in Perth had told the newspaper that they “doubted the account of the numbers killed”.

Today, through the diaries of eye-witnesses and oral tradition, the number of deaths is believed to be closer to 80.

Karrie-Anne Kearing said the massacre has had lasting impacts on her community: “There’s still this division. It all comes down to the acknowledgement side of things.

“It’s about showing respect to the people who fought for their country here.”

The Anglican Schools Commission

John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School was established by the Anglican Schools Commission in 1989. The ASC heads 11 schools across WA. ASC’s chief operating officer Ivan McLean said that truth-telling is a fundamental part of teaching Australia’s history in their schools and that John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School’s name was a product of the time it was built in.

“The naming of a school reflects the societal values of the time. Today, our values and actions also reflect our commitment to reconciliation and to recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people” he said.

In 2020 the ASC released its first Reconciliation Action Plan, which outlined points of action to build respect, community and relationships through education.

“Our Reconciliation Action Plan provides a framework for the ASC and our schools to take part in the journey towards reconciliation” Mr McLean said.

The fight for better recognition

Ms Kearing has been fighting for better acknowledgement of the Pinjarra Massacre for years.

“I live and breathe Pinjarra. I was born here, and I’ll probably die here. This is something important that needs to be acknowledged.”

Ms Kearing said advocating for acknowledgement has been a generational effort.

“My grandmother was a big supporter of getting the massacre known, and then my dad after that.

“It was sort of passed down to me,” she said.

In 2017 Ms Kearing was behind a campaign to rename the Peel region due to its ties to Thomas Peel, who was also involved in the massacre. The effort was dismissed by then Premier Mark McGowan.

In 2020, activist group Heavy Duty replaced the plaque on John Septimus Roe’s memorial statue in Perth’s CBD in an effort to generate conversation about the way we commemorate settlers.

The new plaque read: “On 28 October 1834 John Septimus Roe participated in the Pinjarra Massacre: an attack on the Bindjareb Noongar camp that killed up to 80 Noongar men, women and children. He belongs in a museum. Not on our streets.”

The installation, named Statue Review, was shared online and gained local media attention.

A representative from the group said that the impact of the installation was short-lived:

“We hope it educated more people it otherwise wouldn’t have, but in hindsight, its impact was like screaming into the wind.”

More to learn

Ms Kearing said changing the name of the school would have a positive outcome.

“It’d be a more harmonious community.”

She said she has seen interest from young people who want to learn more about aboriginal history and the Pinjarra Massacre.

“We are getting younger people through who want to know about the real thing.”

Mr McLean said the ASC is in the final stages of writing its second Reconciliation Action Plan.

John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School declined to comment.

This article is part of a larger project called Where What Why. You can find the whole collection of stories about places and their names here.