Blood on the Wattle Massacres & maltreatment of Aboriginal Australians since 1788

Blood on the Wattle draws together, in a single volume, most of the information about the massacres of Aboriginal people which has been recorded in books and journals. It also creates a broad-based level of awareness of the scale of the massacres of Aboriginal people so that this dimension of Australian history can become part of the Australian consciousness.

Bruce Elder is a writer, commentator, and currently a full-time journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald specialising in travel and popular culture. His other areas of expertise include film, television and popular music. He has written extensively about Australia and has a passion for Australian history. He has been involved in writing over 60 books, including Blood on the Wattle which, in 2000, was nominated as one of the 10 most influential works of non-fiction published in Australia in the twentieth century.

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vi Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii 1 TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 2 THE MASSACRES TO THE SOUTH OF SYDNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 3 NEAR GENOCIDE IN VAN DIEMEN’S LAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 4 THE MASSACRE OF THE WIRADJURI — 1824 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 5 MASSACRES ALONG THE DARLING RIVER — 1835 TO 1865 . . . . . . . . . .64 6 MAJOR NUNN’S CAMPAIGN — 1838 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 7 THE MYALL CREEK MASSACRE — 1838 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 8 MASSACRES IN A COASTAL PARADISE — 1830S AND 1840S . . . . . . . . .95 9 MASSACRES IN THE GIPPSLAND REGION — 1840 TO 1851 . . . . . . . . .119 10 THE MASSACRE AT KILCOY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137 11 MASSACRES BY THE NATIVE POLICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147 12 THE MASSACRE OF THE YEEMAN PEOPLE — 1857 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159 13 THE MASSACRE AND THE REPRISALS AT CULLIN-LA-RINGO — 1861 . .173 14 THE MASSACRE AT PIGEON CREEK — 1862 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183 15 THE FORREST RIVER MASSACRE — 1926 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .192 16 THE CONISTON MASSACRE — 1928 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201 17 MASSACRES, MASSACRES, MASSACRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216 18 THE STOLEN GENERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237 19 RACISM — AN AUSTRALIAN TRADITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .248 20 DID THESE MASSACRES REALLY OCCUR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 21 A FEW QUESTIONS ANSWERED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .284 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301