Civilians Were Responsible For The Majority Of The Frontier Aboriginal Massacres

Researchers at the University of Newcastle have been digitally mapping the frontier massacres of Aboriginal people and have found over half of these massacres involved civilians attacking Aboriginal peoples.

For the past eight years, the Colonial Frontier Massacres Digital Map Project has been working to provide an Australia wide record of frontier massacres. The research, a historical first, has been led by University of Newcastle historian Lyndall Ryan to identify and record sites of frontier massacres of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people across the continent between 1788 and 1930.

The map has been updated several times between 2017 and 2022 and now includes over 400 sites of verifiable massacres with its final update. Unlike ‘genocide’, there is no legal definition for a massacre. Ryan and her team used the widely used definition of a massacre as the deliberate and unlawful killing of six or more undefended people in a single operation. According to the final findings of their research, between 11,000 and 14,000 Aboriginal people were killed in 412 historically verified massacres.

Furthermore, according to statistical analysis of their findings, just over 49 percent of the 416 massacres recorded were perpetrated by agents of the state. In terms of the study, ‘agents of the state’ included personnel such as; Border Police, Crowns Land Commissioner, Explorers, Field Police, Foot Soldiers, Government Officials, Military, Mounted Police, Native Police, Aboriginal Trackers, Police, and Soldiers.

There is overlap between the multiple groups which accounts for percentages not adding to 100 percent. Thus, another harrowing number yielded by the research was that up to 62 percent (259 out of 416) of the Frontier massacres involved civilians in the attack. Civilians included anyone who wasn’t an agent of the state i.e. stockkeepers, drovers, miners, labourers, vigilantes, etc.

Overall, massacres perpetrated by civilians had higher rates of murder. 7621 victims or 62 percent of overall massacre victims were killed in civilian-involved massacres, compared to 5293 massacre victims killed by agents of the state. The maximum number of Aboriginal victims recorded for a single massacre was 300 (which occurred on multiple occasions at Slaughterhouse Creek, Gwydir River and Thouringowa Waterhole, Bulloo River, Bullawarra, Thargomindah — each has 300 victims). The maximum number of colonists killed in a single massacre was 26, during the Maria massacre.

The study primarily focused on massacres that occurred from 1788 to 1930. However, Dr Robyn Smith, one of the study’s lead historians, told The Guardian there was evidence that suggested massacres between the ’40s and ’80s. As recently as 1981, she says, there were attempted mass poisonings, but verifying exact numbers is tough. “Unless, as often happens, someone writes about it 20, 30 or 40 years later, when either most of the perpetrators have died or moved away, or they think that the time for arrest and being held accountable has passed,” she said.

Dark Emu Author Bruce Pascoe worked as a researcher on the project and says that though the project is complete, there is still work to be done. “The intention [is] to present a clearer and an accurate picture of what we can be confident of,” he said, clarifying that he hopes the research will “inform public debate.”

Considering the history of Blakfellas being killed by police in this country, it may come as no surprise that law enforcement and agents of the state perpetrated almost half of the known massacres during the Frontier period. However, the fact that the majority of these massacres involved more civilians than law enforcement speaks to the need for reflection on the “average” Australian’s role in perpetuating violent colonialism.

The majority of non-Indigenous settlers in this country cannot claim to have partaken in massacres of Aboriginal people, as the civilians recorded in the Colonial Frontier Massacres Digital Map Project. However, it’s clear the legacy of non-Indigenous civilian involvement in the continuing violent injustice against the First Nations people of this continent remains.

The University of Newcastle’s completed digital map of Aboriginal massacres during the Frontier period can be viewed here, along with resources, statistics, and other findings.