According to Dunderdale, Donald Macalister fired at some Kurnai without any provocation. 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. But we strive to be one people, equality of opportunity for all, no privilege by birth, truly one nation. 12/02/2019. The Commissariat let annual tenders for the supply of fresh meat and other staples. The reference to Bundalaguah Swamp has previously escaped notice. 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. 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. I have seen somewhere that this version of the. x[Ys~W`R.$7nN$QI.%>pA>\83FOT]K!+qq{|$E hj]Qw >|nQ)jn'L-.~>>ze)/[B_=|?b1R2Kz~&>,g0cppJBw'YzDh/sZOfyfALsn/P%v=3jeVy~;>H"Oj4**@EBxT14:=l3\Es`eeJZT%L}nz`^Kgxh |[jXaxqGw"0'JH-i`L>_n#&,6IvGr:hu'j^xsFo}\vfuklR4f/eK-fig;)pE?itkoe~x-gd}Y~N0f=)` s[/wE\|(u2|Jvp:n Your email address will not be published. Events.com Browse is curated for you to find and attend events you love. Gardner cites other versions of the death of Macalister and the massacre to build his narrative, all based on Gippslander or otherwise post-Dunderdale. 0000017382 00000 n [45] Hoddinotts tale thus appears to contain generic elements from the period. Hatcher appears to suggest that there was a massacre at Bruthen Creek; Gardner has either ignored or failed to grasp this to make the account fit his Warrigal Creek narrative. Gardners reliability can best be judged by his rewriting of an inter-tribal massacre at Tambo Crossing. Some of the tale also bears a resemblance to accounts of the Hospital Creek massacre in New South Wales that emerged between 1911 and 1919, in which the survivor was a one-eyed Aborigine. Fri., 27 May 20225:00 pm 8:30 pm AEST, Siteworks Workroom 233 Saxon StreetBrunswick, VIC 3056. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work. [6=ViWy|4X$l`DvNk#F/W/kO>{Z_:/\ 'lrgQvFY+fGQ 4\y~QVG[\^aeiQ>mx2k |#R[?#5M. Gardner prefaced the following quote from Gippslander stating that after the murder of Macalister, An avenging party set out under the leadership of Angus McMillan , 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 a breath, they were shot until the water was red with blood. lizabeth 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. 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. [13], The squatting runs were large tracts of unfenced landMacalister had 100 square mileswhere livestock was left in charge of shepherds and hut keepers whose job it was to tend the livestock and prevent it from straying. 6 0 obj While the murder was well documented in contemporary newspaper accounts, the reports also indicate that by mid-1843, Gippsland was in a state of disarray. He also stated: There are many persons congregated in Alberton, without any visible means of earning a livelihood, a parcel of the most lawless rogues. Don't miss the first Melbourne screening of an important new film, The Warrigal Creek Massacre, by former @Swinburne staff Andrew Dodd and Lisa Gye and assisted by current and former Swinburne. [35] This simplistic reductionism obscures the complexity of Gippslands early history, evident in his rejection of Robinsons observations on the escaped convicts. 29 May 2018. [41] The conspiracy of secrecy is used to explain why Hoddinott probably with good reason, chose to remain anonymous, as the account implicated Angus McMillan as the leader of this murderous retaliation. 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 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. Please call Drouin Library for more information 56 251564. Much has been written about the massacre of Aboriginal people that is believed to have occurred at Warrigal Creek in Gippsland in 1843. Advice: This page does not contain images of people who have died. Chapters 6 and 7 of Gippsland Massacres retell the story. 0001000963 00000 n 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. One was a boy at the time about 12 or 14 years old. These passages represent the sum total of Gardners evidence against McMillan (left), but he does not explain how the story implicates McMillan. Bells account is matter-of-fact and he did not name McMillan or any other person. A documentary was made in 2018 and a federal electorate was renamed that year to remove the legacy of Angus McMillan, the alleged instigator, who is otherwise remembered as an explorer, squatter, MP and Protector of Aborigines. In other words, by coincidence, Robinson and Hatcher arrived in Gippsland at exactly the same time. Coincidentally or not, the Australasian newspaper published stories between 1923 and 1925 with a one-eyed Aboriginal character named Bing-eye; the term club foot was ubiquitous. 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. Ranald Macalister was the nephew of Lachlan Macalister and the fifth European to be murdered by the Kurnai. [citation needed] The group of Gaelic-speaking Scotsmen was known as the "Highland Brigade". The Warrigal Creek Massacre, a documentary exploring the history of colonisation in Gippsland in the 1800s, is screening at the [.] This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 01:43. 0000030150 00000 n This account is much closer in time to what may have happened at Warrigal Creek but Bell did not reveal how he knew of the massacres. This documentary tells the story of the Warrigal Creek massacre of 1843 in Gippsland, Victoria, where as many as 150 Gunai Kurnai children, women and . 0000010851 00000 n 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. This was written two years after the murder of Macalister; stating that the slaughter took place after the murder does not necessarily mean that it took place because of the murder. Their submission was denied; McMillan was renamed the Monash electorate instead. In July 1843, a European named Ronald Macalister was killed by First Nations men near Port Albert, in Victoria. The second piece of evidence from Thomas is the record of his conversation with the Gippsland squatter Henry Meyrick in January 1847. Truth-telling about the wrongs of the past is necessary for reconciliation. One thing is clear from his work: the Kurnai men were warriors. 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. 0000116911 00000 n 0000000016 00000 n 0000020901 00000 n This article has been rated as Low-importance on the . endobj Film Screening The Warrigal Creek Massacre This country has a hidden history that is not widely acknowledged. Gary Foley's Koori History Website http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/indexb.html Kevin Gilbert, Because a . [43] The fallacy of this secrecy argument is that it is contradicted by Gardners own evidence from William Thomas from 1845 and other versions of the massacre story that pre-date Gippslander by more than fifty years (see below). But that creek, Warrigal, has seen unimaginable horrors. 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. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 595.4 841.8] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> Nous et nos partenaires utilisons des cookies et des outils similaires afin d'assurer le bon fonctionnement de nos services, d'amliorer la fonctionnalit de notre site Web, de comprendre comment les visiteurs utilisent nos services afin que nous puissions amliorer nos performances, et des fins . Gunaikurnai people continue to visit the land to pay their respects. An unexpected error occurred. Every day I look over and make sure things look peaceful there.. Purchase tickets, /TT4 13 0 R /TT6 15 0 R /TT1 10 0 R >> /XObject << /Im2 16 0 R /Im3 18 0 R 0000030698 00000 n share events with your friends and make the most out of every experience. The historical record of this conflict up to 1843 is sparse and consists of just a few newspaper reports. If you would like to participate, visit the project page. He was hit in the eye by a slug, captured by the whites, and made to lead the Brigade from one camp to another. %PDF-1.5 [54] Meyrick arrived in Gippsland in 1845 so he was not a witness to anything before that date. new domain, Events.com. He was accompanied by George Henry Haydon, who published an account of their journey, which is also well known. Peter Gardner deserves recognition for highlighting the reality of conflict in early Gippsland. Runaways from the settlers, and others have located themselves in some vacated huts on the Tara River, rendering it dangerous for passengers to approach this neighbourhood Your Excellency cannot for the sake of humanity, good government, well-being, and the safety of this district, much longer withhold from us the protection of those laws which we have a right to demand at your Excellencys hands [21]. The timing of this record is important because it was made after two of the three searches for a white woman allegedly held captive by the Kurnai. 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]. This changed with the arrival of Tyers, who told La Trobe: The run-away Convicts, and other bad characters with which the District was infested a few months ago have, I believe been nearly all driven out by the system of surveillance pursued by the Border Police, acting under my instructions.[29]. Warrigal Creek Massacre: A Truth-telling Documentary. 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. >> /ExtGState << /Gs2 23 0 R /Gs1 24 0 R >> /Font << /TT2 11 0 R /TT3 12 0 R However, Thomas, Hatcher and Meyrick did not mention Warrigal Creek as Gardner claimsand they certainly did not mention McMillan. 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. 4 0 obj Convicts under the control of the penal system in the Port Phillip District and elsewhere were notorious for their crimes against the Aborigines. 0000033752 00000 n Perhaps the most revealing example of Gardners influence is Cal Flynns Thicker Than Water, in which McMillan is denounced by his own descendant. The theme for Reconciliation Week 2018 is 'Don't keep history a mystery' Learn - Share - Grow. HLWKf_e|~JD,@K&HSU}t?nO?7OWO?zW_/Vew}V53VfyKwVh{OM5{=+JUwPfQ}-nXY34lMXGz+{? 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. [14], Conflict with the Kurnai was not restricted to the Europeans. In July 1843, up to 150 Gunaikurnai people were killed near the banks of what is now known as Warrigal Creek. We acknowledge that in our past, as in most nations, bad things have happened. A Scottish colonist, called Angus McMillan, led a group of about 20 settlers who . It really hadnt happened before and it just was not even acknowledged or recognised.. *OAQg( n}wWdcKuYl7nfTTYP0|8o6rlBUb[O>03v-Jg1]sng~f5!M .]e?n? <>>> Massacre [ edit] [10], When the squatters began occupying Kurnai territory with their herds of sheep and cattle, conflict soon followed. Second, Gardners narrative is based on the assertion that the massacre and Angus McMillan are synonymous, but he has produced no evidence whatsoever to implicate McMillan. 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. The blacks were found encamped near a waterhole at Gammon Creek, and those who were shot were thrown into it, to the number, it was said, of about sixty, men, women, and children; but this was probably an exaggeration.[57]. <<6C2049F009130640B9B98E7F057F832E>]/Prev 1164416/XRefStm 1766>> 2023 Vimeo.com, Inc. All rights reserved. endobj It was, of course, impossible to identify any blackfellow concerned in the outrage, and therefore atonement must be made by the tribe. 0000002733 00000 n In a letter to his family in England dated April 1846, the Gippsland squatter Henry Meyrick said: .css-cumn2r{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The blacks are very quiet here now, poor wretches. We wish to pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Bell stated: The historic pen of Victorian settlement would paint with truth the horrors of many a scene of Gipps Land life; it was in 1843 that the aggressions of the blacks were so frequent. Please note and use or adapt the following words. [48] Thomas (right) recorded a conversation with a man named Hatcher who Gardner believes was the brother-in-law of a Gippsland squatter named Buntine. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a77bf3dc11d263ed9065ff8247406b97" );document.getElementById("bc64d4fe72").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Beyond this, the subject needs a complete reassessment and the instilling of some academic rigour. This documentary captures a story from Victoria, however there were similar stories as the waves of colonisation swept across the country. 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. Gardners method in telling the story is to first present the massacre and McMillans involvement as matters of fact. It is about the importance of truth- telling. McMillan is not implicated in any of the material cited as evidence against him. Their prior absence from the discourse may indicate the level of research in this area. For more information 56 251564 0000017382 00000 n this article has been written about the wrongs the... Does not contain images of people who have died of an inter-tribal massacre Tambo. Ranald Macalister was killed by First Nations men near Port Albert, in Victoria,... Subject needs a complete reassessment and the fifth European to be one people, equality of for! Account of their journey, which is also well known at the time about 12 or years. With the Kurnai men were warriors is believed to have occurred at Creek... 1843 is sparse and consists of just a few newspaper reports believed to have occurred Warrigal. 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Cites other versions of the death of Macalister and the instilling of some academic rigour Robinson and Hatcher arrived Gippsland... Hatcher arrived in Gippsland in the 1800s, is screening at the [. just a few newspaper reports some... Present the massacre to build his narrative, all based on Gippslander or otherwise post-Dunderdale recognition for highlighting the of... ] this correction suggests that Gardner entirely overlooked the substance and significance of Robinsons observations #! Robinsons observations at Warrigal Creek in Gippsland in 1843 peter Gardner deserves recognition for highlighting the reality of in!