[16] The Port Phillip Gazette reported in April 1845: A report has been current that a whole tribe of blacks has been extirpated in the Gipps Land country, by the Western Port or Port Phillip blacks, led on by several of the Mounted Black Police; we understand that an investigation is now going on, and we may add it is one of the most extraordinary affairs we have yet heard about. Truth-telling about the wrongs of the past is necessary for reconciliation. [9], With an overland route opened by McMillan and a rudimentary settlement and port established on the Albert River at Port Albert, squatters began occupying the plains; by the end of 1844, the entire Gippsland squatting district had been occupied. Host virtual events and webinars to increase engagement and generate leads. Every day I look over and make sure things look peaceful there.. ?6m-^a_DD/UJ[ Drawing on official archives and oral histories that have never died, this is the story of The Warrigal Creek Massacre. Its part of our life and its not that I dont stop and think about it. [40] Otherwise, he has no involvement in the story. bHn=Y,8M*[+GwXfi1^yn}vSuvA@pN. Much has been written about the massacre of Aboriginal people that is believed to have occurred at Warrigal Creek in Gippsland in 1843. [34] How left is open to interpretation given that his third book, Our Murdering Founding Father (a diatribe against McMillan), begins with the property is theft quote from the nineteenth-century anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Required fields are marked *. Balderstones home was built 20 years after the massacre which happened just steps from the front door. Their prior absence from the discourse may indicate the level of research in this area. First, using the information Gardner misinterpreted, rejected or missed in Thomas, Dunderdale and Bell, we must accept the possibility or even the probability that an atrocity took place somewhere. The Chief Protector of Aborigines, George Augustus Robinson (right), noted that the settlers were not the only ones to suffer from the convicts: There is however reason to fear that before the arrival of the Commissioner a large amount of mischief had been inflicted upon the original Inhabitants by the lawless and depraved who had infested the port from Van Diemens Land and the Middle Districts [present-day New South Wales] and that the instance recorded (if reports be true) is not the only one in which the Blacks have suffered. 91 58 His alleged role in the massacre is a construct entirely of Gardners own making, where he attached McMillans name to the Gippslander story without revealing this to his readers. Gardner regards tribal warfare as a myth.[18]. Tyerss Convict Return for 1844 shows that convict labour was an integral part of the squatter economy. An independent expedition from Melbourne to Corner Inlet in the barque Singapore in the same year led to the discovery of the mouths of the Albert and Tarra rivers. Sell more tickets through digital marketing. Beyond this, the subject needs a complete reassessment and the instilling of some academic rigour. Elizabeth Balderstone leads a lifestyle that many city dwellers fantasise about, on a farm in Victorias Gippsland, surrounded by friendly sheep, with a humble little creek just 60 metres from her house. At the end of 1845, Tyers wrote a follow-up report stating: since the return of the Native Police to Head Quarters the depredations of the Aborigines of the District on the property of the Settlers, including horses as well as horned stock, have increased to an alarming extentand that I cannot at present suggest any other means of prevention, than the continuing service of the Native Police.[27]. 0000033752 00000 n According to Gardner, the Warrigal Creek massacre was revenge for his murder. They murdered, according to Gippslander, 150 at Warrigal Creek, which would make it one of the largest known massacres of Aborigines in Australian history.[36]. 0000020673 00000 n 0000001766 00000 n MAR We are here to help! %PDF-1.3 We acknowledge that in our past, as in most nations, bad things have happened. In July 1843 Angus McMillan and a group of his countrymen known as the Highland Brigade shot between 60 and 150 Gunaikurnai people in retribution for the murder of Ronald Macalister, the nephew of a wealthy pastoralist, Lachlan Macalister, who owned a local station called Nuntin. They returned in triumph with flesh from the Kurnai they had killed. 0000116989 00000 n Bells account is matter-of-fact and he did not name McMillan or any other person. I think the first thing for Gippsland is to acknowledge that it does have that history, like other places where bad things have happened, where massacres have occurred, where theres some acknowledgement of whats occurred instead of masking it, a Gurnaikurnai elder, Doris Paton, told the film-makers Andrew Dodd and Lisa Gye. He was shot through the foot and was so injured that he was called Club Foot.[39]. hbbbd`b`` K [7], Many histories of Gippsland have quaint notions of founding fathers, churches and shires, but the reality is that squatters occupied the region in order to capture a share of the filthy lucre of the Van Diemens Land convict economy. When Angus McMillian and the Highland Brigade rode through Gippsland in 1843, they aimed to murder as many Gunai Kurnai children, women and men as they could. In July 1843, a man named Ronald Macalister was killed by Aboriginal men near Port Albert, on the coast of Victoria. Warrigal Creek Massacre: A Truth-telling Documentary. [22] Sydney Morning Herald 15 April 1844, p. 4; the article appears to have Lachlan Macalisters turn of phrase. Welcome to you all., Read Quadrant online or as a printed magazine Starting at $88.00 a year. 0000024533 00000 n 5|ya"R=:(O)Y?vM=u(f!ygaR@Dfx*qVhCqE CML@Ishk4 C&YE$A9M#~gyHN#,H^(eC:Z;o=ni!|"V?bx6c49Y+b FyELe_`GGWy&2SpKeQPZY4)OEe Your email address will not be published. A European convicted of cattle stealing in the Port Phillip District faced the penalty of transportation for fifteen years; in Van Diemens Land, it was for life.[24]. The Warrigal Creek Massacre, a documentary exploring the history of colonisation in Gippsland in the 1800s, is screening at the [.] He was afterwards adopted by one of the party and called Bing Eye. Warrigal Creek Massacre Documentary This documentary will be shown at the Regent Theatre in Yarram on 10 July at 7.30pm during Naidoc Week. Part III: Other Versions of the Massacre Story. [33] His work was cited widely in a motion to remove monuments to McMillan put before the Wellington Shire Council in June 2020. His body was mutilated and stripped, and it was found the next day by an Aboriginal boy in his employment. The history of early Gippsland will invariably include many intersecting and conflicting narratives. However, Thomas, Hatcher and Meyrick did not mention Warrigal Creek as Gardner claimsand they certainly did not mention McMillan. [55] The murder of Macalister may have marked a turning point in which the Europeans went on the offensive. The aim of this article is to examine Gardners interpretation of the Warrigal Creek massacre story and his accusations against McMillan. The theme for Reconciliation Week 2018 is 'Don't keep history a mystery' Learn - Share - Grow. 0000017382 00000 n Gardner believes that the lack of primary evidence for massacres such as Warrigal Creek is due to silence and secrecy and this is a recurrent theme in his work. He was joined by detachments of the Border and Native Police. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work. The attack on the Brataualung people camped at Warrigal Creek was one of several incidents resulting in loss of life among the Gunai Kurnai people. 2020, Cnr. [25], Tyers noted that the Kurnai were geographically isolated from all of the neighbouring Aboriginal tribes, none of whom could understand their language, and From this circumstance, the Chief Protector [Robinson] on his visit to Gipps Land last year, was unsuccessful in his attempts to communicate with them. The isolation from the other tribes meant that their fierce and predatory habits have received no check.[26]. Perhaps the most apt way to name these outrageous and brutal occurrences is that they be called after the man who organised and perpetrated them: Angus McMillan. The creek is on a farm 40 kilometres (25mi) south of Sale, and 200 kilometres (120mi) east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia. They will be immediately recommended to interested users. [10], When the squatters began occupying Kurnai territory with their herds of sheep and cattle, conflict soon followed. << /ProcSet [ /PDF /Text /ImageB /ImageC /ImageI ] /ColorSpace << /Cs1 7 0 R Macalister stated that escaped convicts were committing the most revolting crimes the calendar can namesuch as murder, rape, robbery, forgeries, cattle-stealing, and last, though not least, sly grog-selling, the root of all crime. Launch date: Wednesday 4 AprilStratford Courthouse TheatreFree entry but bookings essentialRegister via Eventbrite http://bit.ly/2sTmWsCAbout the filmWhen An. The return did not include ex-convicts.[28]. This National Reconciliation week, reflect on the hidden history of the 1843 massacre of the Gurnaikurnai people at Warrigal Creek. GLaWAC has been given permission to screen the Warrigal Creek Massacre film at our office at Forestec. "qd]^vc'OontVsl Happy New Year to all. 29 May 2018. Launch date: Wednesday 4 AprilStratford Courthouse TheatreFree entry but bookings essentialRegister via Eventbrite http://bit.ly/2sTmWsCAbout the filmWhen Angus McMillian and the Highland Brigade rode through Gippsland in 1843, they aimed to murder as many Gunai Kurnai children, women and men as they could.At a quiet bend on a beautiful creek they committed one of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the Australian colonies.Drawing on official archives and oral histories that have never died, this is the story of The Warrigal Creek Massacre.Because to move forward we must acknowledge our past.Produced and directed by Andrew Dodd and Lisa Gye.Production and research by Danielle Bowen, Jonathan Boadle, Jakeb Fair, Alex Owsianka, Don Sheil and Ben Winnell.Supported by Swinburne University. 0000885516 00000 n The Geelong Advertiser reported the murder: It is reported that Mr. McAllister was decoyed from his station by a party of blacks on pretext of having found a flock of sheep that had been missing, and that having got him to a spot favourable for their murderous purpose, they set upon him with their waddies, and despatched him under circumstances of the utmost barbarity.[20]. true /ColorSpace 25 0 R /Intent /Perceptual /SMask 26 0 R /BitsPerComponent The Warrigal Creek Massacre | About the film When Angus McMillian and the Highland Brigade rode through Gippsland in 1843, they aimed to murder as many Gunai Kurnai children, women and men as they could. Third, Gardners narrative is constructed around a story written for schoolchildren in 1925, a story that could at best be considered as folk history. 2 0 obj 0001031115 00000 n 4 0 obj T*,2$i ,2N0p$ rOE2)Tde$2([X~O`E([HH|MrJSo Wayne, a very valuable and comprehensive article. If a historical narrative is to be used as the basis for debate or action in the public sphere, it should be grounded in non-partisan, objective research and analysis. % There exists little to no official documentation of the Warrigal Creek Massacre. 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