View source for Explorers' Monument (Western Australia)

{{Short description|Controversial monument in Fremantle, Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
The '''Maitland Brown Memorial''', also known as '''Explorers' Monument''', is a monument located in [[Esplanade Park, Fremantle|Esplanade Park]] in [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]], [[Western Australia]].<ref name="cof15" /><ref name="casc18" /> Unveiled on 8 February 1913,<ref name="twa13" /> it is approximately {{convert|6|m}} high, and consists of a head and shoulders statue of [[Maitland Brown]] sitting on granite pedestals on a granite base inset with five plaques, one depicting three explorers, [[Frederick Panter]], [[James Harding (explorer)|James Harding]] and [[William Goldwyer]].<ref name="sca17" /> Brown died on 8 July 1905, {{age|1905|7|8|1913|2|8}} years prior to the unveiling of the monument, and Panter, Harding and Goldwyer {{age|1864|11|13|1913|2|8}} years prior on 13 November 1864. The monument was commissioned by [[George Julius Brockman]] who is depicted by one of the five plaques, and the statue of Brown was sculpted by [[Pietro Porcelli]].<ref name="ma" /> Because the monument as originally erected is biased, such as by celebrating colonists "as intrepid pioneers" in contrast to Aboriginal people that "are condemned as treacherous natives",<ref name="casc18" /> an additional plaque was added on 9 April 1994 that left the original offensive and biased aspects in place.<ref name="ma2" /><ref name="mico17" />
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|File:Explorers' monument (bust).JPG
|Bust depicting Maitland Brown at the top of the Maitland Brown Memorial

|File:Explorers' Monument.jpg
|The monument in the 1920s

|File:Explorers' Monument.JPG
|Amid a stand of trees in 2007
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== History ==
Panter, Harding and Goldwyer were killed by [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal]] people while exploring in the [[Kimberley region of Western Australia]].  When the men failed to return, Brown was commissioned to lead the [[La Grange expedition]],<ref name="twa11" /> which searched for the whereabouts of the missing men. Brown's party found the men speared to death, two of them evidently in their sleep. Shortly afterwards, between six and twenty Aboriginal persons were killed{{snd}}highly controversially even at the time{{snd}}by Brown's party and reported by Brown as a battle brought on by an Aboriginal ambush, but which has often since been characterised as a punitive massacre of Aboriginal people by white settlers.<ref name="sca21" /> Indeed, the monument itself has plainly called the group of people that conducted the expedition and that it memorialises the "punitive party" for the past {{age|1913|02|08}} years.

One of the original plaques on the pedestal reads as follows:
{{blockquote |text=This monument was erected by {{thinspace|G.|J.}} Brockman as a fellow bush wanderer's tribute to the memory of Panter, Harding and Goldwyer. Earliest explorers after Grey and Gregory of this "{{lang|la|Terra Incognita|italics=unset}}" [this "unknown land"], attacked at night by treacherous natives, were murdered at Boole Boola near Le Grange Bay on 13 November 1864. Also as an appreciative token of remembrance of Maitland Brown, one of the pioneer pastoralists and premier politicians of this state, intrepid leader of the government search and punitive party. His remains together with the sad relics of the ill fated three recovered at great risk and danger from the lone wilds repose under a public monument in the East Perth Cemetery "lest we forget."}}

=== Additional plaque ===
It has long been held that the monument is a racist work that presented{{snd}}and continues to present{{snd}}a biased interpretation of the events at La Grange because, for example, it celebrates the colonists "as intrepid pioneers" in contrast to the Aboriginal people that "are condemned as treacherous natives".<ref name="casc18" /> In 1994, an attempt was made to redress this by placing an additional plaque on the monument.<ref name="dal18" /> The new plaque commemorates all Aboriginal people who died during the invasion of their country, and reads as follows:

{{blockquote |text=This plaque was erected by people who found the monument before you offensive. The monument described the events at La Grange from one perspective only: the viewpoint of the white 'settlers'. No mention is made of the right of Aboriginal people to defend their land or of the history of provocation which led to the explorers' deaths. The 'punitive party' mentioned here ended in the deaths of somewhere around twenty Aboriginal people. The whites were well-armed and equipped and none of their party was killed or wounded. This plaque is in memory of the Aboriginal people killed at La Grange. It also commemorates all
other Aboriginal people who died during the invasion of their country. {{em|Lest we forget {{lang|aus|Mapa jarriya-nyalaku|italics=unset}}.}}}}

==See also==
* [[Flying Foam massacre]]
* [[Forrest River massacre]]
* [[La Grange Bay, Western Australia]]
* [[Pinjarra massacre]]

==General references==
{{refbegin |30em}}
*{{cite journal |title=A Monument to Murder: Celebrating the Conquest of Aboriginal Australia |last=Scates |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Scates |year=1989 |editor1-first=Lenore |editor1-last=Layman |editor2-first=Tom |editor2-last=Stannage |editor2-link=Tom Stannage |series=Celebrations in Western Australian History |journal=Studies in Western Australian History |volume=10 |pages=21–31 |publisher=University of Western Australia |department=Department of History |location=Nedlands |issn=0314-7525 |oclc=7128924424 }}
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist |30em |refs=
<ref name="cof15">{{cite web |title=Adopted Master Plan: Fremantle Esplanade |date=2015-12-16 |website=City of Fremantle |url=https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Esplanade%20Masterplan%20-%20Adopted%20plan%2016Dec15.pdf |access-date=2022-07-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="mico17">{{cite news |title=The controversial statue that was added to, not torn down or vandalised |date=2017-08-29 |first1=Vanessa |last1=Mills |first2=Ben |last2=Collins |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-29/explorers-monument-added-to-not-torn-down-or-vandalised/8853224 |access-date=2022-07-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="casc18">{{cite episode |title=Encounters |url=https://youtube.com/watch?v=oPK3xYYXcs0&t=556 |access-date=2022-07-24 |series=Australian Journey: The Story of a Nation in 12 Objects |first1=Susan |last1=Carland |author1-link=Susan Carland |first2=Bruce Charles |last2=Scates |author2-link=Bruce Scates |publisher=National Museum of Australia, Government of Australia |station= |date=2018-01-24 |number=9 |time=9:16 }}</ref>

<ref name="dal18">{{cite web |title=How do we settle the 'statue wars'? Let's start by telling the truth about our past |first=Paul |last=Daley |date=2018-06-29 |website=Guardian Australia |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/postcolonial-blog/2018/jun/29/how-do-we-settle-the-statue-wars-lets-start-by-telling-the-truth-about-our-past |access-date=2022-07-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="ma">{{cite web |title=Maitland Brown Memorial (Explorers Monument) |website=Monument Australia |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/exploration/display/60482-maitland-brown-memorial-explorers-monument |access-date=2022-07-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="ma2">{{cite web |title=La Grange (Injudinah) Massacre |website=Monument Australia |url=https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/indigenous/display/60490-la-grange-injudinah-massacre |access-date=2022-07-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="sca17">{{cite news |title=Monumental errors: how Australia can fix its racist colonial statues |date=2017-08-28 |first=Bruce Charles |last=Scates |author-link=Bruce Scates |work=The Conversation |url=https://theconversation.com/monumental-errors-how-australia-can-fix-its-racist-colonial-statues-82980 |access-date=2022-07-24 }}</ref>

<ref name="sca21">{{cite journal |title=Set in Stone? Dialogical Memorialisation and the Beginnings of Australia's Statue Wars |first=Bruce |last=Scates |author-link=Bruce Scates |date=2021-06-22 |journal=Public History Review |volume=28 ''Statue Wars: Protest, Public Histories and Problematic Plinths'' |doi=10.5130/phrj.v28i0.7494 |issn=1833-4989 |publisher=University of Technology Sydney |location=Broadway |s2cid=237859179 |url=https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/7494 }}</ref>

<ref name="twa11">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26303029 |title=The Le [''sic''] Grange Massacre |work=[[The West Australian]] |volume=27 |issue=7760 |location=Western Australia |date=1911-02-11 |access-date=2022-07-25 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

<ref name="twa13">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26866534 |title=Honouring the Dead |work=[[The West Australian]] |volume=XXIX |issue=3379 |location=Western Australia |date=1913-02-10 |access-date=2022-07-24 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin |30em}}
*{{cite news |title=Tasmanian council votes to remove controversial statue of former premier who stole an Indigenous skull |author=AAP|date=2022-08-15 |work=SBS News |publisher=Special Broadcasting Service |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/tasmanian-council-to-remove-controversial-statue-of-former-premier-who-stole-an-indigenous-skull/j68iahsv0 |access-date=2022-08-16 |quote=This does not change history. The records, the books, the articles, the stories all remain unchanged. [...] To say we're committed to reconciliation and not do these little things is just ridiculous. }}
*{{cite news |title=Controversial William Crowther statue to be removed after Hobart City Council vote |first=Will |last=Murray |date=2022-08-16 |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-16/william-crowther-statue-to-be-removed/101334976 |access-date=2022-08-16 |quote=It is believed to be the first time an Australian council has decided to remove a statue. [...] The statue itself will be preserved — initially taken to the city's valuables collection but possibly re-interpreted in a different location later. }}
*{{cite news |title=Hobart council to remove divisive statue |first=Ethan |last=James |date=2022-08-15 |work=MSN |publisher=Microsoft |url=https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/hobart-council-to-remove-divisive-statue/ar-AA10FwzC |access-date=2022-08-16  |quote=Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds described it as a practical and meaningful step to reconciliation and one part of a broader national conversation. }}
*{{cite news |title='A small step to reconciliation': Hobart council to remove statue of William Crowther who stole Aboriginal skull from morgue |author=Australian Associated Press |date=2022-08-15 |work=Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/15/a-small-step-to-reconciliation-hobart-council-to-remove-statue-of-william-crowther-who-stole-aboriginal-skull-from-morgue |access-date=2022-08-16 }}
*{{cite web |title=I hate Maitland Brown |first=Alan |last=Thompson |date=2017-10-21 |website=The Ratbag Encyclopedia |url=http://www.warpedtime.com.au/encyclopedia/i-hate-maitland-brown/ |access-date=2022-07-24 }}
{{refend}}

{{subject bar |auto=y |portal1=Western Australia |portal2=Modern history }}
{{coord |region:AU-WA_type:landmark_dim:{{wikidata |property |qualifier |raw |P625 |P2386 |format=%q}} |display=title |format=dec}}
[[Category:Exploration of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Fremantle]]
[[Category:History of Indigenous Australians]]
[[Category:1913 sculptures]]
[[Category:Anti-indigenous racism in Australia]]
[[Category:1913 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Race-related controversies in sculpture]]