A primary school principal has apologised following the backlash to a colonial-themed day that encouraged students to dress as convicts, soldiers and bushrangers during National Reconciliation Week.
An Aboriginal leader said she was shocked and dismayed to learn Castletown Primary School near Esperance held the event in the lead-up to Western Australia Day.
The school advertised the event via a Facebook post, which has since been deleted, and overlooked the fact it fell in the middle of a culturally-significant week for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
National Reconciliation Week has been celebrated since 1993, and this year's theme was "in this together".
Gail Reynolds-Adamson, the chairperson of the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, described the colonial celebration as "shameful".
"For the Education Department, in particular, to do this I find it really shameful," she said.
"If our educators of the next generation are ignorant of what happened in the past, that institutionalised racism and behaviour that we see today will continue into the next generation because our teachers just don't get it."
Principal offers 'heartfelt apology'
In a statement, principal Timothy Baker acknowledged the dress-up day had caused "considerable hurt and offence" to members of the Aboriginal community.
"I offer my heartfelt apology to anyone who was offended, particularly in our local Esperance community," he said.
He said the school would learn from the experience and had been in touch with community members who were keen to promote a deeper understanding of Aboriginal culture and history in the school.
The WA Education Department said it encouraged all public schools to celebrate Reconciliation Week in "respectful and appropriate ways".
"This includes seeking out an understanding of the local pre- and post-contact history of the area where a school is located, and to consult the local Aboriginal community about events," a spokeswoman said.
State Education Minister Sue Ellery declined to comment.
Ms Reynolds-Adamson said she was contacted by concerned parents of Castletown Primary School students who did not want their children to attend the dress-up day.
"There were two options: one is a silent protest in which you don't send your children to school," she said.
"Or you get your children to dress-up in filthy rags with balls and chains around their neck in a way of representing the dispossession and the incarceration of Aboriginal people since colonisation.
"How would the school have engaged with that?"
Reconciliation forgotten by council
Castletown Primary School was not the only Esperance institution to miss the mark when it came to Reconciliation Week this year.
The Shire of Esperance adopted a Reconciliation Action Plan last September, but it failed to acknowledge the week entirely.
"I'm not aware the shire has done anything that week, and in fact, it wasn't even flying the Aboriginal Torres Strait Island flag this week," Ms Reynolds-Adamson said.
She said that led her to believe the shire had endorsed the Reconciliation Action Plan to "tick a box" rather than to lead change in the organisation.
Shire President Ian Mickel said the council had dropped the ball.
He noted that members of the Reconciliation Action Plan working group have not yet met as the shire had been focussed on managing COVID-19.
"We've obviously missed an opportunity, and I apologise to the Aboriginal people in the community that that might have happened," Mr Mickel said.
When asked about the apologies from Mr Baker and Mr Mickel, Ms Reynolds-Adamson replied:
"Apology is one thing; words are one thing; action is another," she said.
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