Transcript Document

Aboriginal and European Relations
• Faithfull Massacre
• Myall Creek Massacre
• Murdering Gully Massacre
• Coniston Massacre
Pinjarra
1834
For generations Australians have been taught
to believe the country was peacefully settled
by Europeans.
That is not true. No one asked the Aboriginal
people if they wanted an invasion. There was
no buying of land or signing of treaties, as in
New Zealand at the same time.
The British imposed their own law - they just
took over, hungry for land. They drew their
own maps, divided the land into housing
blocks, farms and stations, then sold these to
other settlers.
This was despite the official instructions to
Governor Stirling from the King allowing him
only to "grant unoccupied lands". The
Common Law imported from England held
that property rights had to be respected. In
WA the law was ignored.
Aboriginal people were not seen to be
"farming" the land. Their use and respect of
the land was not understood by the white
people.
Fences were built, strange animals
introduced. Aboriginal people at first
thought their newcomers would soon be
gone; many thought their white skins
meant they were returned spirits of the
dead. They were welcomed, shown
watercourses and given food.
When it became obvious the "visitors" had no
intention of leaving or sharing, warfare
erupted.
Because this didn't start the moment the
Europeans arrived and because there were
few pitched battles, the nature of the warfare
was misunderstood. There were hundreds of
small-scale conflicts, shootings and
poisonings that were seldom reported.
One West Australian settler wrote, "We are at
war with the original owners; we have never
known them in any capacity but as enemies."
People were declared "outlaws", then
arrested and shot or hung without trial.
The Australian frontier was marked by blood.
Few of the newcomers took this seriously.
Aborigines speared sheep and cattle just as
they'd been killing kangaroos and emus for
thousands of years. They climbed over
fences and entered buildings, taking
whatever food was available, reasoning they
were sharing their wealth and expected
others to do the same.
The Europeans retaliated with force. The First
Australians were labeled savages, less than
humans. They were shot, whipped, poisoned,
arrested, chained, transported jailed, tortured
and executed.
In 1834, Noongars protested against the
taking of their land. The settlers opened fire,
then drove the Noongars into the swamps of
what is now Lake Monger. Troops surrounded
the lake at nightfall, but when they advanced
at daybreak no one could be found. During
the night they had slipped past the soldiers
and escaped unnoticed. This was the socalled "Battle of Perth".
• Pinjarra
Reports of these atrocities seldom told the
truth, for the killers were ashamed of their
deeds and sought to justify them with words
like "dispersed" instead of massacred. An
ambush by soldiers of people camped near
Pinjarra was labeled by the victors "the Battle
of Pinjarra" as though it was a contest of
equals.
Only one European died. It is believed up to
150 Aboriginal men, women and children
were slaughtered in gunfire from both sides of
the river.
Prisoners were taken then released to spread
the message that if spearings of stock and
settlers continued "four times the present
expedition would be sent against them and
destroy every man, woman, and child."
Historians commented on a "war of
retaliation" and the "hatred expressed by the
bulk of the settlers to the whole of the
Aboriginal race."
Battle or massacre?
Was deterioration in the relationship
between European and Aboriginal
people historically inevitable or
avoidable?
THE CLASH
Agriculturist versus hunter and gatherers
Australia
- limited resources to house both styles
Indigenous social structure
- lacked ability to come together to succeed
fighting against Europeans