Map of Indigenous massacres grows to include more sites of violence across Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Anne Bickford]

Hi All,
I offered for my friend Lyndall Ryan, recording massacres over eastern Australia and publishing them on this map - see article below- to ask ozarch archaeologists did you find out about any massacres during your academic research. Maybe you have info about it in your PhD which you haven’t published separately. Many years ago Mike Pearson published a paper “Massacre at Bonshaw” found out during his PhD, but Lyndall can’t get a copy of it anywhere so I will ask him to send her a copy. You can find Lyndall’s project on the Uni of Newcastle website. Please get in touch if you have anything.
Thanks,
Annie

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-27/map-of-indigenous-massacres-grows-to-include-more-sites/10040206


Anne Bickford
Director
Archaeology And Heritage Pty Ltd
PO Box 304 CAMPERDOWN 1450
Ph: 02 95699672
Mob: 0419 496872
email: ab...@bigpond.net.au

[john...@ozemail.com.au]

 

Hello Ann,

Two stories never known when I was working at Cobar and Hawkes Nest (Myall River) areas surfaced much much later.

One says massacre at Mt Drysdale north of Cobar, the other says at Darks Point on the Mungo Brush Road.

The former was investigated by NPWS archaeologist out of Broken Hill office .. by some Dutch name .. like van Dyke or de Witters but should be able to find him easily as I think they only had one there; and I think he is still doing archaeology but now in New Zealand.

Cheers, John

 

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{OzArch} Map of Indigenous massacres grows to include more sites of violence across Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Lesley and Rick]

You must mean Dan Witter - he is alive and well and working in NZ. His email in case you want to contact him, is: acdcw...@xtra.co.nz 

Cheers

Rick

 

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[john...@ozemail.com.au]

 

Hi,

 

Yep the old memory cells kick back ..... Dan Witter for sure is the man.

He will likely know more about this than anyone else.

I'll try to contact him, many thanks.  He was also involved with "The Pinnacles" -- a matter I am still going on and wrote again to Broken Hill Council and tried again to contact ex BH Mayor Peter Black only yesterday.

Cheers, John

 

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Re: {OzArch} Map of Indigenous massacres grows to include more sites of violence across Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Sean winter]

When this project finally makes it to WA the number of dots is going to double, especially in the north-west. A few of publications (and other things) I am aware of:

Lister, M., & Wallis, L. A., 2011. Looking for the proverbial needle? The archaeology of Australian colonial frontier massacres. Archaeology in Oceania, 46: 105-117.

Owen, C. 2016. 'Every Mother's Son is Guilty': Policing the Kimberley Frontier of Western Australia 1882-1905. Crawley: University of Western Australia Publishing.

Collard, L. 1994. A Nyungar Interpretation of Ellensbrook and Wonnerup Homesteads. Unpublished report for the National Trust of Australia (WA) and Edith Cowan University.

Gregory, K. & Paterson, A. 2015. Commemorating the colonial Pilbara: beyond memorials into difficult history. National Identities, 17: 137-153.

Some well known massacres in WA include Pinjarra (1834), Wardandi (1841), Kukeranup (1880s), and Flying Foam (1868). But there are many,many more.

Pamela Smith, Rodney Harrison and Al Paterson would probably have information about the Pilbarar and Kimberley. Kim Scott at Curtin Uni as well. Chris Owen did his PhDon this for the Kimberley and the above book is the outcome.

Cheers

Sean Winter

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[Sean winter]

Daisy Bates also apparently recorded numerous oral histories about massacres in WA

On Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 11:03 AM, Anne Bickford <ab...@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

[Anne Bickford]

Thanks Sean, 

Unfortunately as the ABC article says the researchers need additional funding to include WA in the survey. I don’t know where it would come from. The Federal Govt should give them more funds, as the project has had so much interest by the Aust public and is so important for all Australians to know about and reflect on. I don’t know if they are doing anything about looking for further funds.

Annie

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[Gary Vines]

https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php

I checked the one massacre I am reasonably familiar with (reprisal for Charles Franks' murder) and found the information to be accurate and comprehensive.

[Jeannette Hope]

In the massacre website / database, there are errors in the information for the events which I have researched or know something about.

For example, the dates and events at Rufus River in 1841 are very confused and some events, notably the initial attacks by Aborigines on overlanding parties are either omitted, or on one case stated to be 'alleged' , when it is well documented. There are three different dots for the Rufus River Massacre(s), all of them in the wrong place, and each gives a different language name or names. So why haven't I sent corrections? Well, I did, especially about the location, when the site was first put up, but not only do these seem not to have been fixed, but additional errors have crept in, some rather puzzling eg giving a source dated 29 May 1841 for an event dated as 23 August 1841. For Rufus River, this is partly my fault, because I've been writing a book on this for ages and it's time I finished it.

Another location on the website is Mt Dispersion where Mitchell's exploring party shot several Aborigines in 1836. On the website this is not named Mt Dispersion, but 'near Robinvale'. Leaving aside the fact that Robinvale is in Victoria and the area shown on the map on the massacre website is in NSW (where the event occurred), the grid coordinates given as plus or minus 250m are actually 32k out. Further the description on the massacre website clearly says that the Aborigines were shot as they were swimming across the Murray River, but the 250m square on the map doesn't actually include the Murray River.

This error is hard to fathom, for a number of reasons. First, Mitchell named the place of the encounter 'Mt Dispersion' at the time, in 1836, it is in his published account (1839), has been used to name the event in many books and publications, and is marked on most maps ever since (so why use the name 'near Robinvale?'). Second, if you search on Mt Dispersion in Google Earth, you will get 'Mt Dispersion Battle Monument, Tapaulin Road, Euston, NSW,2737'. The Google Earth location for the monument is accurate and the monument is fairly close to the actual place (probably within 500m) but located on a convenient stopping place on a road with a view to the Murray, given that there is no public road access to the river here. It was erected by the Mildura Historical Society in 1963. Third, the Institution of Surveyors has done a study on Mitchell's route and maps. I am just starting a job to document the evidence for the locality in terms of modern land tenure/coordinates with the aim of declaring an Aboriginal Place under the NSW NPW Act.

The problem with these two examples seems to be the choice of sources - limited, selective, old, newspaper articles etc., and where several sources are used, apparently not compared and evaluated. And as with the Mt Dispersion example, there was insufficient proof-reading to ensure that the information on the website is internally consistent. With regards to Rufus River, I included a detailed analysis of the sources in the Lake Victoria EIS, 1998, with specific focus on the ground location - since we were required to try and identify an archaeological traces - but this is not used as a source.

As a result I would be extremely cautious of taking at face value any data for the places I personally know nothing about.

Regards

Jeannette Hope

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Subject: Re: {OzArch} Map of Indigenous massacres grows to include more sites of violence across Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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[zoharesque]

In case anyone is following up these references, it is Litster (not Lister) and Wallis 2011. Litster's honours thesis on this topic can be found here:

http://www.flinders.edu.au/ehl/fms/archaeology_files/dig_library/theses/Mirani%20Litster%20-%20Honours%202006.pdf

Alice

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Subject: Re: {OzArch} Map of Indigenous massacres grows to include more sites of violence across Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

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Dr Alice Gorman
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B: http://zoharesque.blogspot.com.au/
The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/profiles/alice-gorman-4234/articles
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