WARNING: This story contains elements that some readers may find distressing.
New research has found that half of all frontier massacres of Indigenous people were executed by colonial forces with the intention of genocide.
Frontier massacres in Australia increased as colonial forces moved across the nation with new data concluding at least 10,000 Indigenous people were killed in 416 massacres between 1780 and 1930.
This contests the previous research noting 302 massacres and over 8,000 Indigenous deaths.
The research is Stage 4 of an eight-year project which tracks and records frontier massacres on a national map.
University of Newcastle's Massacre Map resource tracks frontier massacres across the nation between 1780 and 1930. Source: Supplied
“We consider these important finds, they shift our understanding of how the Australia frontier was operating,” said project lead, Newcastle historian Emeritus Professor Lyndall Ryan.
Colonial violence after 1860
Professor Ryan said that even more massacres were recorded between 1860 and 1930 than between 1788 and 1860.
As the rates of killing increased, so did the brutality.
“We’re finding that the data is telling us that the massacres after 1860 were carried out more on an industrial scale,” she said.
“There seems to be a more ruthless approach on the part of the perpetrators on massacring Aboriginal people – in a way that’s not quite there in the information before 1860.”
“It’s taking us into a new trajectory of understanding the violence of the frontier, and the more recent frontier, which is more violent.”
1860 was a significant year in terms of the colonial expansion across Australia. South Australia claimed the Northern Territory, Queensland had established itself as a colony independent of New South Wales, and in Western Australia, colonial forces began to move into the Kimberley.
Professor Lyndall Ryan has worked on developing the Massacre Map. Source: University of Newcastle/Penny Harnett
As the white grip on the continent became ever stronger and more codified, colonists became more calculated and strategic when executing violence against Aboriginal people.
“What the research has found is that the massacres were widespread, they follow the frontier across Australia and that they were very carefully planned – they weren’t an accident,” she said.
“It was designed to get the Aboriginal people out of the way.”
“We find that the massacres are becoming better ‘organised’. Perhaps the perpetrators are learning a lot more about how Aboriginal people are living.”
The map's truth-telling
Professor Ryan developed the map alongside Dr Jennifer Debenham, Dr Chris Owen, Dr Robyn Smith and Dr Bill Pascoe. The historians collate evidence through settler diaries, newspaper reports, Aboriginal testimonies and evidence and from state and territory archives.
University of Newcastle academic and Aboriginal man Dr Bill Pascoe told NITV News that in some cases massacres had an “ideology of racial superiority behind them”.
Dr Bill Pascoe has worked five-years on the map project. Source: Supplied
“When colonisation reached the northern parts of Australia, the death tolls were higher. And more than that though, the attitudes behind this was a lot more callous, a lot more bloodthirsty,” said Dr Pascoe.
“A lot of the people who commit these things, they used to be soldiers fighting in wars... they’re used to killing. And sometimes the rhetoric of conquest is brought into it.”
Every massacre a story
Each massacre identified on the map is accompanied by information about what occurred, including the number of people who died and the circumstances of the massacre.
“Every time I look at the map, it’s still shocking. If you look at the details, each massacre has a narrative associated with it. That stuff does keep you up at night,” said Dr Pascoe.
Professor Ryan recalls one of the “most frightening” massacres she’d recorded.
In Western Australia’s Kimberley region during the 1890s, several Aboriginal men were taken by authorities and placed in neck chains.
“They thought they were being taken off to town, but along the way, it was decided they would camp for the night. Even in their neck chains, they were sent out to gather firewood,” she said.
“When they brought it back, the perpetrators poured fuel on the fire and threw the Aboriginal people into it.”
“That’s a frightening massacre and perhaps one of the worst we’ve come across.”
Mapping the path forward
Dr Pascoe said he hopes the map can empower place-based truth-telling.
“One of the main things about this is the power of the map – it tells a story instantly,” said Dr Pascoe.
“You find out what happened around you, it brings it home. It becomes much more personal, you can learn about places you know, places you drive past every day or the place you grew up.”
Professor Ryan hopes that the map can be used as a tool to change what the nation knows about frontier violence and colonial expansion.
“It’s clear that my generation has been protected from this kind of information.
"When I do talk to people of my generation about these events, they’re incredibly shocked... I find that the young generation of school children do want to know what happened and do want to make amends,” she said.
“We know this project is becoming embedded in the school curriculum - that’s a big step forward, and it’s helping us to change our understanding of the past.”
Dr Pascoe said the project was something he was “proud” to work on and sees its potential for reconciliation.
First Nations educators say including First Nations perspectives in the national curriculum would enrich children's learning experience. Source: AAP/YAPPERA CHILDREN'S SERVICE
“It’s something so important to Australia, and it always will be important. We need to make sure people know about these things and what happened,” he said
“It’s put it in a way that you can’t dispute it anymore. The evidence is all there for anyone to go and check for themselves. I hope that it helps the country as a whole move beyond the sour debates we have about whether it even happened in the first place.
“You can’t move on without acknowledging the realities.”
