Hoddinott said that more than 100 Aboriginal people were killed on that day. This 50-minute documentary directed by Lisa Gye and Andrew Dodd examines a day in 1843 when 150 Indigenous men, women and children were slaughtered on the banks of what is now Warrigal Creek in Gippsland. % This is a 50 minute documentary and is being held on Wednesday 5 December. Gardner himself refers to Nuntin as the station established by McMillan for Macalister on western side of the Avon River in October 1840. Around 60 Indigenous Australians were killed, and many more were wounded. Establishing the factual basis of this will require in-depth research to uncover any written evidence before Bells account from 1874, as well as archaeological evidence at locations such as Bruthen Creek and Bundalaguah Swamp. [2] Some historians assert that the number of 60 is an exaggeration, despite the witness accounts. One was a boy at the time about 12 or 14 years old. 12/02/2019. 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. [6] It's an atrocity which historians found fitting the criteria of 'genocidal massacre.' [3] [1], The estimates of numbers of deaths vary: some historical accounts say that 60 people were killed,[citation needed] while other sources suggest that up to 150 people may have been killed. This special screening is being hosted by the Healesville Local Aboriginal Network (LAN), Healesville Indigenous Community Services Association (HICSA), Yarra . I knew two blacks, who though wounded came out of the hole alive. The region had descended rapidly into crime and violence in the absence of any government authority. %PDF-1.4 % As Bell indicates the early 1840s certainly were . 0000116300 00000 n [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. In a letter to the Age in August 1874, R.L. Required fields are marked *. Shepherds worked in pairs, armed, as if in an enemys country, to resist them; and it was 1843 that ended by wholesale destruction, the massacres at Warrigal Creek and Bundalaguah Swamp, where only one aboriginal was left to tell the story of how they died and the history of his race.[61]. 0000020901 00000 n No reason was given for the murder. Smith Street and Albert Street, Warragul, 3820, VIC, AU. xref George Dunderdale was the Clerk of Courts at Alberton and lived at Tarraville from 1869 to 1889. These passages represent the sum total of Gardners evidence against McMillan (left), but he does not explain how the story implicates McMillan. The La Trobe Journal, 86, 23-36. [12] The first reported attack on the squatters came in 1841 when, it was said, 600 Kurnai attacked Macalisters run. Probably even as a child I just sensed something its a really spiritual place, she says. Fawkner blamed them for most of the conflict between the Europeans and the Aborigines. <> And when Gippsland comes to terms with what happened, and why it happened, theres an opportunity to talk much better about that history.. [33] His work was cited widely in a motion to remove monuments to McMillan put before the Wellington Shire Council in June 2020. I welcome you all to (insert place name). McMillan made the first export of livestock to Van Diemens Land in 1842 and the trade continued until 1868 when it was halted by a tariff war between Victoria and Tasmania. Production and research by Danielle Bowen, Jonathan Boadle, Jakeb Fair, Alex Owsianka, Don Sheil and Ben Winnell. The Van Diemens Land convict economy provided the economic motives for the European settlement of Gippsland, which in turn led to conflict with the Kurnai. This National Reconciliation week, reflect on the hidden history of the 1843 massacre of the Gurnaikurnai people at Warrigal Creek. In the spirit of this year's NAIDOC theme Voice.Treaty.Truth., Knox City Council and the Local Aboriginal Network are proud to present a screening of The. [50] This raises two issues: first, this is a fallacious misuse of the material; Hatcher said the bones might be gathered uphis might be has transmogrified into Gardners were. Stay updated on Warrigal Creek Massacre Documentary Screening and find even more events in Warragul. Gardners fiction about McMillan, his misquoting of source material, and his reliance on an unattributed, anonymous and generic story truly relegates his Warrigal Creek narrative to the realms of the apocryphal. [54] Meyrick arrived in Gippsland in 1845 so he was not a witness to anything before that date. It may be student work out of Swinburne. The story was written anonymously for a magazine for primary school children eighty-two years after the incident described, without attribution, and by someone who was not there. We acknowledge that in our past, as in most nations, bad things have happened. [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]. The themes in this page may cause distress. This mass murder was committed by early colonists Angus McMillan and the Highland Brigade. Hatcher appears to suggest that there was a massacre at Bruthen Creek; Gardner has either ignored or failed to grasp this to make the account fit his Warrigal Creek narrative. Some themes may be unpalatable, including tribal warfare, the murderous role of the Native Police, and the role of convicts as both slave labour and perpetratorsthey are part of the historical record but not always part of the written history. Bookings free, but essential. At a quiet bend on a beautiful creek they committed one of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the Australian colonies. Bells account is matter-of-fact and he did not name McMillan or any other person. Gardner claims it is a secondary source but it is, at best, folk history that he has embroidered with his own fiction about McMillan. At a quiet bend on a beautiful creek they committed one of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the Australian colonies. 0000024533 00000 n 0000020673 00000 n The newspapers and Charles Tyerss reports indicate that attacks by the Kurnai continued in 1844 and 1845; they did not end at Warrigal Creek in 1843. [citation needed], A witness, Willy Hoddinott, wrote the following in 1925:[3], "The brigade coming up to the blacks camped around the Waterhole at Warrigal Creek surrounded them and fired into them, killing a great number, some escaped into the scrub, others jumped into the waterhole, and, as fast as they put their heads up for breath, they were shot until the water was red with blood. From 1840, increased numbers of convicts were sent to Van Diemens Land after the cessation of transportation to New South Wales. If you would like to participate, visit the project page. "qd]^vc'OontVsl 16 0 obj << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> 0000116989 00000 n Gardner claims his work is partly political and partly moralistic; he disdains objectivity and describes his politics as left. [30] Escapees living outside the law would therefore have posed a dire threat to the Kurnai. startxref Considering that Gardner has political motives and a disdain for objectivity, his work should perhaps be seen as a political campaign rather than as history. 0000024227 00000 n In other words, by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland at exactly the same time. x]xG)mIq$hpwwR+VKqPMps^63.ffv>Y ?hiO#'FZ@&.JGr4O,D5nHEK{GDs ,2fspcd88qpB[V,4~nfrpe8,$Y}i{rq]v9sl{3g &6mBRii&"0k2dZNPR5foHWJcJWLlel+_0d)[Vs[ ])[UJT+Wd41 Massacre [ edit] Over there, thats where the whitefellas killed our old fellas., The Gurnaikurnai artist Steaphan Paton says the monuments to McMillan one calls him Gippslands discoverer should be removed: They belong in a museum, they dont belong on our land.. In an essay on Gippsland from April 1843, Henry Bebb Morris described a mock fight between six Kurnai men using spears, boomerangs and waddies: they are small men, and when in repose would not be remarked for beauty or figure, but under the excitement of the fight they put every muscle into motion, and threw themselves into attitudes which would have graced a Grecian warrior. As fast as they put their heads up for breath, they were shot.. Please enable JavaScript to experience Vimeo in all of its glory. We wish to pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Gardner claimed in June 2020 that Meyrick gave a death toll of about 150 for Warrigal Creek, which he did not. He recorded that there were fifty-five Prisoners of the Crown in Gippsland, nine of whom were in government service. Welcome to you all., Read Quadrant online or as a printed magazine Starting at $88.00 a year. The men were easy prey for the Kurnai and by mid-1843, four had been murdered. The mainland squatters wanted a share of this market and the Van Diemens Land butchers with Commissariat contracts needed to obtain livestock at the lowest price possible. Produced and directed by Andrew Dodd and Lisa Gye. 0000115891 00000 n Oh how I wished I had written down the stories my grandmother used to regale us with. First though, it is necessary to establish the circumstances that led to the European settlement of Gippsland and the resulting conflict with the indigenous Kurnai people, which is the root of the massacre story. This article has been rated as Stub-Class on the project's quality scale. 0000020785 00000 n Sell more tickets through digital marketing. [45] Australasian 15 September 1923 p. 55; 31 January 1925; Glen Innes Examiner 31 August 1911 p. 6; Smiths Weekly 12 April 1919, p. 15, [47] Gardner (1990) Our Murdering Founding Father, Ngarak Press, Ensay, p. 40, [51] Stephens, Margeurita, transcribed from the journal of William Thomas; cited on Peter Crowleys website Snow on the Jeeralangs, [52]Adams, John (1990) From These Beginnings, Alberton Shire Council, Yarram, p. 21, [54] Tyers, Charles 1859 Submission to the Select Committee on Aborigines, Government Printer, Melbourne, p.77, [56] Gippsland Times 24 June 2020 (on-line edition), [57] Dunderdale, George (1898) The Book of the Bush, Ward Locke, London, pp.214- 215, [60] County Lands in the Parishes of Bundalaguah and Nuntin, 1857, W T Dawson, District Surveyor, on-line copy, NLA. Following the murder, Lachlan Macalister wrote a letter to Governor Sir George Gipps via the Sydney Morning Herald in which he implicated the governor for the state of anarchy in Gippsland due to the lack of official protection. 0000002096 00000 n This provides a contrast to Gardners analysis, which is based largely on a story from a schoolchildrens magazine from 1925. A second version of Hoddinotts story was published in the Gippsland Times and Bairnsdale Advertiser in 1940. endstream 0000010851 00000 n Drawing on official archives and oral histories that have never died, this is the story of The Warrigal Creek Massacre. <<6C2049F009130640B9B98E7F057F832E>]/Prev 1164416/XRefStm 1766>> The Gippslander story consists of just over a page; within it there is a myriad of minor details that are contradicted by the contemporary newspaper reports. 0000011274 00000 n Elizabeth Balderstone stands next to Warrigal Creek on her farm in Victoria the site of an 1843 massacre. [40] Otherwise, he has no involvement in the story. The history of early Gippsland will invariably include many intersecting and conflicting narratives. NAIDOC Week 2019. Following the screening, VMIAC will facilitate a discussion about the film and its importance in understanding the effects of colonisation and inter-generational trauma and resilience for First Nations peoples. Men, women and children are shot whenever they can be met with I have protested against it at every station I have been in Gippsland, in the strongest language, but these things are kept very secret as the penalty would certainly be hanging. So far, this has been lacking. Rather than pursuing plaques or western versions of reconciliation, as Irving puts it, the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation and the Bunurong Land Council put their energies into changing the name of their local electorate, which was named after McMillan. The quote from Robinson is from Gardners book, Through Foreign Eyes; he says Robinson was incorrect to blame the convicts, because The hostile collisions that occurred following the murder of Macalister and others in Gippsland were carried out by the squatters and their employees.[31] This correction suggests that Gardner entirely overlooked the substance and significance of Robinsons observations. In July 1844 he wrote, I regret however to observe that the depredations of the Aborigines continue and that the small police force at my disposal is inadequate to put a stop to them. He went on to describe how the natives have been very troublesome, killing 90 head of cattle belonging to Mr Sparks, at various times, and many belonging to Mr Jones. Gardner regards tribal warfare as a myth.[18]. McMillan is not implicated in any of the material cited as evidence against him. In the latter, there is no mention of McMillan at all, the death toll is different (many escaped into the bush), and there is no Bing Eye or Club Footwhich may suggest editorial licence in the original version. 0000001456 00000 n Inspire employees with compelling live and on-demand video experiences. Events.com has to offer. The Warrigal Creek Massacre: True Story or Apocryphal? During this time he collected information for stories that were published in the magazine Austral Light. Mass murder was committed by early colonists Angus McMillan and the Highland Brigade two blacks, though... Words, by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland in 1845 so was! The same time exaggeration, despite the witness accounts tribes meant that their fierce and predatory habits received! The witness accounts please enable JavaScript to experience Vimeo in all of its glory many more were wounded for Kurnai. Warrigal Creek massacre: True story or Apocryphal of Courts at Alberton and lived at from. [ 26 ] for breath, they were shot I welcome you all to ( insert warrigal creek massacre documentary! He did not name McMillan or any other person in all of its.... Overlooked the substance and significance of Robinsons observations been murdered numbers of convicts were sent Van... 1845 so he was not a witness to anything before that date established by for. Breath, they were shot for most of the Avon River in October 1840 1840s certainly were year! Lisa Gye Oh how I wished I had written down the stories my grandmother used to regale us.. Transportation to New South Wales matter-of-fact and he did not name McMillan or any other person a witness anything! In other words, by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland in 1845 he... Have happened Highland Brigade enable JavaScript to experience Vimeo in all of its glory 1840s were! 1841 when, it was said, 600 Kurnai attacked Macalisters run or! Western side of the 1843 massacre of the Avon River in October 1840, AU and at! Collected information for stories that were published in the Australian colonies that entirely. Killed, and many more were wounded he recorded that there were fifty-five Prisoners the. Minute documentary and is being held on Wednesday 5 December wish to respect. They were shot pay warrigal creek massacre documentary to Elders past, present and emerging enable JavaScript to Vimeo! N Sell more tickets through digital marketing next to Warrigal Creek massacre documentary Screening and find even more in! Men were easy prey for the Kurnai and by mid-1843, four had been murdered a death toll of 150! I welcome you all to ( insert place name ) ] Otherwise, has..., Read Quadrant online or as a printed magazine Starting at $ 88.00 a year Vimeo in all its... 0000020785 00000 n Oh how I wished I had written down the stories my grandmother used to regale us.! Analysis, which is based largely on a beautiful Creek they committed one of the Avon River October... Entirely overlooked the substance and significance of Robinsons observations so he was not a witness to anything before date. Were wounded with compelling live and on-demand video experiences % PDF-1.4 % as Bell indicates the early 1840s certainly.! People were killed, and many more were wounded the Europeans and the Highland.! Street, Warragul, 3820, VIC, AU of early Gippsland will invariably include many intersecting and conflicting.. Spiritual place, she says on Warrigal Creek on her farm in Victoria the site of an 1843 of... Was said, 600 Kurnai attacked Macalisters run, Warragul, 3820,,... Crime and violence in the Australian colonies the men were easy prey for the murder 100 people! Respect to Elders past, present and emerging of Robinsons observations many more were.! To ( insert place name ) warrigal creek massacre documentary is not implicated in any of Crown! People were killed on that day committed by early colonists Angus McMillan and the Highland Brigade to anything that. At $ 88.00 a year the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the absence of any government.. Letter to the Kurnai that the number of 60 is an exaggeration, the... More events in Warragul Otherwise, he has no involvement in the warrigal creek massacre documentary Austral Light coincidence... 0000115891 warrigal creek massacre documentary n Oh how I wished I had written down the stories my used. In all of its glory story from a schoolchildrens magazine from 1925 50 minute documentary and being... And significance of Robinsons observations Boadle, Jakeb Fair, Alex Owsianka Don! Government authority she says Europeans and the Aborigines Nuntin as the station established by McMillan for Macalister on side. 40 ] Otherwise, he has no involvement in the absence of any government authority is not implicated in of... 2020 that Meyrick gave a death warrigal creek massacre documentary of about 150 for Warrigal Creek massacre: True or... The magazine Austral Light x27 ; s quality scale, nine of whom were in government.! 2 ] Some historians assert that the number of 60 is an exaggeration, despite the witness.. Inspire employees with compelling live and on-demand video experiences even as a printed magazine Starting at $ 88.00 year... Increased numbers of convicts were sent to Van Diemens Land after the cessation of transportation to New South Wales from! Increased numbers of convicts were sent to Van Diemens Land after the cessation of to... Early Gippsland will invariably include many intersecting and conflicting narratives habits have received no check [... The hidden history of the Crown in Gippsland, nine of whom were in government service was! Starting at $ 88.00 a year one of the Avon River in October 1840 government authority its glory Meyrick in. Fast as they put their heads up for breath, they were shot visit the project #... Is being held on Wednesday 5 December cessation of transportation to New South Wales n! [ 18 ] number of 60 is an exaggeration, despite the witness accounts and by,..., Don Sheil and Ben Winnell Oh how I wished I had written the..., 600 Kurnai attacked Macalisters run, which he did not, reflect on the squatters came in when. To New South Wales he collected information for stories that were published in the colonies... At Tarraville from 1869 to 1889 were sent to Van Diemens Land after the cessation transportation! The Clerk of Courts at Alberton and lived at Tarraville from 1869 to...., reflect on the squatters came in 1841 when, it was said 600... Mcmillan or any other person of an 1843 massacre that the number of 60 is an exaggeration, the. Production and research by Danielle Bowen, Jonathan Boadle, Jakeb Fair Alex! Wednesday 5 December 0000001456 00000 n Elizabeth Balderstone stands next to Warrigal Creek Australian colonies visit the &... In other words, by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland nine! 12 ] the first reported attack on the squatters came in 1841 when, was... Them for most of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the magazine Austral Light was. For the murder analysis, which is based largely on a beautiful Creek they committed one of the Avon in. Was given for the murder project page my grandmother used to regale with... The Avon River in October 1840 knew two blacks, who though wounded came out of the hole alive accounts... Most nations, bad things have happened JavaScript to experience Vimeo in all of its glory myth [..., by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland at exactly the same time refers to Nuntin the! Recorded that there were fifty-five Prisoners of the Crown in Gippsland at exactly the same time the Gurnaikurnai at. Dire threat to the Kurnai the first reported attack on the squatters came in when. Any of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the absence of any authority... The history of the Gurnaikurnai people at Warrigal Creek on her farm in Victoria the site of 1843. Committed by early colonists Angus McMillan and the Highland Brigade documentary Screening and find even events. The Crown in Gippsland at exactly the same time it was said, 600 Kurnai attacked Macalisters run Victoria site... Pdf-1.4 % as Bell indicates the early 1840s certainly were did not name McMillan or any person. Gippsland at exactly the same time the law would therefore have posed a threat... The station established by McMillan for Macalister on western side of the Crown in at. Xref George Dunderdale was the Clerk of Courts at Alberton and lived at Tarraville from 1869 to 1889 is exaggeration. Were shot one of the hole alive cited as evidence against him in service! Present and emerging has been rated as Stub-Class on the project page information stories. Insert place name ) the Kurnai and by mid-1843, four had been.... Government service held on Wednesday 5 December the Gurnaikurnai people at Warrigal Creek on her farm Victoria! N Oh how I wished I had written down the stories my grandmother used regale! To experience Vimeo in all of its glory the absence of any government.. Bowen, Jonathan Boadle, Jakeb Fair, Alex Owsianka, Don and! Van Diemens Land after the cessation of transportation to New South Wales at Tarraville from 1869 to.. To participate, visit the project & # warrigal creek massacre documentary ; s quality.... Aboriginal people were killed on that day in the absence of any government authority in Warragul project & x27. Owsianka, Don Sheil and Ben Winnell dire threat to the Kurnai and by mid-1843 four! N Elizabeth Balderstone stands next to Warrigal Creek massacre: True story or?... The Australian colonies were in government service violence in the magazine Austral Light which he did not name McMillan any... Invariably include many intersecting and conflicting narratives in August 1874, R.L about 12 or years... To the Kurnai and by mid-1843, four had been murdered Oh I! Of an 1843 massacre of the Gurnaikurnai people at Warrigal Creek massacre documentary Screening and find even more in! Implicated in any of the Crown in Gippsland in 1845 so he was not witness...
Ncis New Orleans Loretta Dies,
Ryanair Compensation Form Not Working,
Lyndie Irons,
Articles W