Frustrated with the hidden history of the massacre, the makers of this 50-minute documentary sought oral histories and combed through archival works to capture and relay the truth of Australias violent past. [citation needed] The group of Gaelic-speaking Scotsmen was known as the "Highland Brigade". 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. They were feared by their tribal enemies for their ability to attack at nighta skill the Europeans were to encounter.[5]. )A?8yo]gNV2nj}cR2|#~M >A$M#~A^EQ ~Q{?pO0!&S7),}w4Wf+(L1Qd (wL~MdP{"&r'|2b7##lQ$*GJA]a8[B&DKv-vk@,#dD B79 j2zKD#,mgF(3dz_5W^LaJhs/QwFrqP{q[U}d They proposed a different name: Bunjileene-Purrine. One was a boy at the time about 12 or 14 years old. In the latter, there is no mention of McMillan at all, the death toll is different (many escaped into the bush), and there is no Bing Eye or Club Footwhich may suggest editorial licence in the original version. Historian Peter Gardner, in a review of all accounts of the massacre, wrote that MacMillan and the Highland Brigade aimed to wipe out all the Aboriginal people in the area. The story was written anonymously for a magazine for primary school children eighty-two years after the incident described, without attribution, and by someone who was not there. endobj 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. 0000116989 00000 n Oh how I wished I had written down the stories my grandmother used to regale us with. 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 . 0000116524 00000 n [10], When the squatters began occupying Kurnai territory with their herds of sheep and cattle, conflict soon followed. Warrigal Creek is the site of an 1843 massacre in of Gunai/Kurnai people in colonial Victoria, during the Australian frontier wars. Every day I look over and make sure things look peaceful there.. [33] His work was cited widely in a motion to remove monuments to McMillan put before the Wellington Shire Council in June 2020. [50] This raises two issues: first, this is a fallacious misuse of the material; Hatcher said the bones might be gathered uphis might be has transmogrified into Gardners were. [10] Caldow (2012) p.25; Caldow W (2010) The early livestock trade between Gippsland and Van Diemens Land: insights from Patrick Coady Buckleys journal of 1844. In July 1843, up to 150 Gunaikurnai people were killed near the banks of what is now known as Warrigal Creek. [11] The violent response from the Kurnai was the same as that meted out to their tribal enemies when defending their territory. Home; News; Entertainment; Sport; Galleries; Competitions; . 0000116300 00000 n McMillan made the first export of livestock to Van Diemens Land in 1842 and the trade continued until 1868 when it was halted by a tariff war between Victoria and Tasmania. Can only find the trailer. Balderstones home was built 20 years after the massacre which happened just steps from the front door. 0000115969 00000 n Light refreshments will be available. Word of the murder was sent to Lachlan Macalister. To implicate McMillan, Gardner imputed words and meaning into this story that are simply not there, rendering his narrative both perplexing and questionable. [22] Sydney Morning Herald 15 April 1844, p. 4; the article appears to have Lachlan Macalisters turn of phrase. To discount Macalisters involvement, Gardner states there is no proof he was in Gippsland before 1848. They will be immediately recommended to interested users. 1 0 obj 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. Wayne, a very valuable and comprehensive article. 0000118101 00000 n 0001021671 00000 n This was the cause of great enmity among the surviving Bunurong. Happy New Year to all. From 1840, increased numbers of convicts were sent to Van Diemens Land after the cessation of transportation to New South Wales. External Lived Experience Employment Opportunities, Complete the VMIAC Conference 2023 Survey, CEO Update with Craig Wallace | 17.02.2023, New Consumer Register Opportunity: Access Policy & Triage Guidelines, CEO Update with Craig Wallace | 03.02.2023, CEO Update with Craig Wallace | 20.01.2023. It really hadnt happened before and it just was not even acknowledged or recognised.. I knew two blacks, who though wounded came out of the hole alive. Film Screening The Warrigal Creek Massacre This country has a hidden history that is not widely acknowledged. 3 0 obj The themes in this page may cause distress. [51] The latters wife, Lavinia, published a well-known account of their journey. Launch date: Wednesday 4 AprilStratford Courthouse TheatreFree entry but bookings essentialRegister via Eventbrite http://bit.ly/2sTmWsCAbout the filmWhen Angus McMillian and the Highland Brigade rode through Gippsland in 1843, they aimed to murder as many Gunai Kurnai children, women and men as they could.At a quiet bend on a beautiful creek they committed one of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing in the Australian colonies.Drawing on official archives and oral histories that have never died, this is the story of The Warrigal Creek Massacre.Because to move forward we must acknowledge our past.Produced and directed by Andrew Dodd and Lisa Gye.Production and research by Danielle Bowen, Jonathan Boadle, Jakeb Fair, Alex Owsianka, Don Sheil and Ben Winnell.Supported by Swinburne University. 'Conspiracy of silence': how sabotaged inquiries fed massacre denials, Telling the truth about Australia's past will be painful but it will be liberating | Karen Mundine and Richard Weston, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Peter Gardner[1]. As fast as they put their heads up for breath, they were shot.. 0000005571 00000 n Over there, thats where the whitefellas killed our old fellas., The Gurnaikurnai artist Steaphan Paton says the monuments to McMillan one calls him Gippslands discoverer should be removed: They belong in a museum, they dont belong on our land.. This special screening is being hosted by the Healesville Local Aboriginal Network (LAN), Healesville Indigenous Community Services Association (HICSA), Yarra . The Warrigal Creek Massacre, a documentary exploring the history of colonisation in Gippsland in the 1800s, is screening at the [.] The region had descended rapidly into crime and violence in the absence of any government authority. His words continue to have influence and have provided a convenient but misplaced source of outrageand how does the community benefit from having negative sentiments engendered on a false premise? >> /ExtGState << /Gs2 23 0 R /Gs1 24 0 R >> /Font << /TT2 11 0 R /TT3 12 0 R This raises the inevitable question of whether the massacre story, based on Gardners interpretation, should be seen as historical fact or an apocryphal tale. 0001003043 00000 n endobj The second piece of evidence from Thomas is the record of his conversation with the Gippsland squatter Henry Meyrick in January 1847. Perhaps the most revealing example of Gardners influence is Cal Flynns Thicker Than Water, in which McMillan is denounced by his own descendant. Gardner says this was almost certainly McMillan of Nuntin and that Dunderdale was mistaken as the person he was most likely referring to was McMillan of Bushy Park. His reports correlate with the newspaper accounts in describing the violent state of Gippsland. [2] His work has indeed permeated academic and public discourse, but it contains many unproven assertions that undermine his main premise, that McMillan was responsible for the massacre. Those who came in chains, those who fled famine, those who fled or survived genocide and war and its consequences. He was hit in the eye by a slug, captured by the whites, and made to lead the brigade from one camp to another. I knew two blacks, who though wounded came out of the hole alive. The Warrigal Creek Massacre is a 50-minute documentary, a passion project produced on a shoe-string budget, which looks unflinchingly at a horrifying episode of Victorian history - one of the worst acts of indiscriminate killing of Indigenous Australians in the early colonies. To date, there is nothing to suggest that it will include Angus McMillan leading the Charge of the Highland Brigade. 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. %PDF-1.3 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. We were hearing the stories all the time, especially when we were near the places or going past somewhere, my mum would always say, Over that way. Shed point the finger and say, Dont go that way. [44] The word colourful may have been more appropriate. Establishing this will entail the evaluation of all historical themes and not rejecting or ignoring evidence because it does not fit a preconceived narrative. <>>> Thu This announcement is all that I know, for a screening at Stratford,. This National Reconciliation week, reflect on the hidden history of the 1843 massacre of the Gurnaikurnai people at Warrigal Creek. 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. Nonetheless, it demonstrates that the early settlement of Gippsland was marked by violence involving the Kurnai, the settlers and convicts. His body was mutilated and stripped, and it was found the next day by an Aboriginal boy in his employment. This implied that the other four police were assigned servants, or white slaves, as John Pascoe Fawkner, the editor of the Port Phillip Patriot and a fierce critic of the convict system, called them. According to Gardner, the Warrigal Creek massacre was revenge for his murder. Gardner claims it is a secondary source but it is, at best, folk history that he has embroidered with his own fiction about McMillan. Required fields are marked *. It was made to better understand our country's true history. This mass murder was committed by early colonists Angus McMillan and the Highland Brigade. 0000001936 00000 n We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work. [52] There could not have been a cover-up if human remains were still visible after their arrivals. 2023 Vimeo.com, Inc. All rights reserved. [56] These accounts nonetheless provide evidence of the otherwise unrecorded conflict between the Europeans and the Kurnai at places such as Bruthen Creek. stream The Kurnai people were the indigenous inhabitants of Gippsland when the first Europeans arrived. [42] Elsewhere he states that Hoddinotts desire to remain anonymous would seem to indicate that the telling of the story may have had undesirable repercussions. 0000015443 00000 n %PDF-1.5 startxref I asked him if he was not afraid of meeting the Blacks, his reply was, Blks Sir no fear of them now they would run away as soon as they see a white man but there are not many left, he said he had a Brother who had been in Gippsland from the first his name was Bunton & kept a Public house in Gippsland by the Dirty Water Holes & a cattle station joining to Mr. McAllister who was killed, that after Mr. McAllisters murder great slaughter of the blacks took place and that on his brothers station a cart load of Blks bones might be gath.rd up [49]. No reason was given for the murder. In the spirit of this year's NAIDOC theme Voice.Treaty.Truth., Knox City Council and the Local Aboriginal Network are proud to present a screening of The. 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. Once again, Gardner corrected historical material when it did not agree with his Warrigal Creek narrative. The creek is on a farm 40 kilometres (25mi) south of Sale, and 200 kilometres (120mi) east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia. share events with your friends and make the most out of every experience. The next day, while on horseback, he was speared through the neck from behind. Events.com Browse is curated to help you find and attend events you love. Please note and use or adapt the following words. /Im4 20 0 R /Im1 8 0 R >> >> 2151 [35] This simplistic reductionism obscures the complexity of Gippslands early history, evident in his rejection of Robinsons observations on the escaped convicts. 8 /Filter /FlateDecode >> The Warrigal Creek Massacre of 1843 was another despicable act of violence. [2] Some historians assert that the number of 60 is an exaggeration, despite the witness accounts. Stay updated on Warrigal Creek Massacre Documentary Screening and find even more events in Warragul. It is cited in the Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for McMillan, which is in turn cited on the Victorian Parliament website. 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. Your email address will not be published. Light refreshments will be available. 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