Aboriginal Warfare in Australia
Introduction
From the time that Europeans landed in Australia ‘Pastoralists were pushing into Indigenous territory, robbing Aboriginal people of the land they had lived on and nurtured for thousands of years. ‘But Aboriginal communities did not just stand by as the land which they had formed rich bonds with, both spiritually and physically, was taken from their hands. Through a mixture of fear and hatred of the Aboriginals, European settlers engaged in many brutal clashes with them to attempt to seize their land. The Myall Creek massacre and the genocide that occurred in Van Diemens land are two prominent examples of the vicious and inhumane treatment of Aboriginals and the story of Pemulwuy is a reminder of the courage shown that was shown in adversity by many Aboriginal people.
Myall Creek Massacre 1838
The Myall Creek massacre came as a surprise given that the Aboriginal people from Myall Creek (NSW) had developed good relations with the European occupants of that region. It was in June 1838 when 12 heavily armed settlers brutally murdered 28 Aboriginal people.
‘About 800 metres from the huts the defenceless Aboriginal people were hacked and slashed to death. They were beheaded and their headless bodies were left where they fell.’1
Most of the dead were women or children. This Massacre was considered ‘payback’ for the killing of some shepherds. For this reason, seven stockmen were hanged on charges of murder, this was the first time in Australia that people who murdered Aboriginals were actually tried and hanged. This decision enraged the colonial people and press alike, who could not understand why they were punished so harshly for murdering an Aboriginal.
‘I look on the blacks as a set of monkeys, and the earlier they are exterminated from the face of the earth the better… I would never see a white man hanged for killing a black.’
This is a quote from one of the jurors on the Myall Creek Massacre case, it shows how there was no respect
From the time that Europeans landed in Australia ‘Pastoralists were pushing into Indigenous territory, robbing Aboriginal people of the land they had lived on and nurtured for thousands of years. ‘But Aboriginal communities did not just stand by as the land which they had formed rich bonds with, both spiritually and physically, was taken from their hands. Through a mixture of fear and hatred of the Aboriginals, European settlers engaged in many brutal clashes with them to attempt to seize their land. The Myall Creek massacre and the genocide that occurred in Van Diemens land are two prominent examples of the vicious and inhumane treatment of Aboriginals and the story of Pemulwuy is a reminder of the courage shown that was shown in adversity by many Aboriginal people.
Myall Creek Massacre 1838
The Myall Creek massacre came as a surprise given that the Aboriginal people from Myall Creek (NSW) had developed good relations with the European occupants of that region. It was in June 1838 when 12 heavily armed settlers brutally murdered 28 Aboriginal people.
‘About 800 metres from the huts the defenceless Aboriginal people were hacked and slashed to death. They were beheaded and their headless bodies were left where they fell.’1
Most of the dead were women or children. This Massacre was considered ‘payback’ for the killing of some shepherds. For this reason, seven stockmen were hanged on charges of murder, this was the first time in Australia that people who murdered Aboriginals were actually tried and hanged. This decision enraged the colonial people and press alike, who could not understand why they were punished so harshly for murdering an Aboriginal.
‘I look on the blacks as a set of monkeys, and the earlier they are exterminated from the face of the earth the better… I would never see a white man hanged for killing a black.’
This is a quote from one of the jurors on the Myall Creek Massacre case, it shows how there was no respect
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