Blood on the Spear: Aboriginal Killings of Non-Aboriginal People in Colonial Victoria, 1835-1851: Volume Two: Central, Northeast, and Eastern Victoria

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by Dr Ian D. Clark

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This work examines reports of Europeans and other non-Aboriginal people killed by Aboriginal people in colonial Victoria between 1835 and 1851. There were 60 incidents across Victoria: 27 in the west (31 deaths), 21 in the north and northeast (33 deaths), nine in the east (11 deaths), and three in the northwest (three deaths), totalling 78 fatalities. Among the 78 recorded deaths, all but two individuals were European—one was a Black American and another was Indian. Of the 76 European fatalities, one was a Belgian/French individual, one was a white American, and the remainder were either British or Irish. Including an additional 27 reported deaths from 21 incidents that require further verification, the total reaches 105 deaths across 81 documented incidents. This study neither glorifies the Europeans and non-Europeans killed in the Port Phillip district nor demonizes the Aboriginal people involved. No veneration is intended. The men and children mentioned in these two volumes are not portrayed as heroes. While it is important to bring to light the stories of Aboriginal victims of frontier violence, it is equally necessary to recognise non-Aboriginal victims of that same violence. Just as we may never know the exact number of Aboriginal people who lost their lives at the hands of Europeans during this period, the true count of non-Indigenous deaths caused by Aboriginal peoples will also likely remain unknown. Some accounts of violence against non-Aboriginal people in Victoria, as well as descriptions of killings and mutilations in this study, are difficult to read. The violence is unsettling and disturbing, but that is not grounds to abandon the study. Studying non-Aboriginal deaths on the frontier offers valuable insights, as these events can often be connected to existing research about Aboriginal deaths. In some cases, Europeans were killed in retaliation for previous violence against Aboriginal people, which then led to further reprisals. This cyclical nature means that the histories of both groups on the frontier are deeply intertwined; neglecting one perspective limits our understanding of the other. Examining cases of non-Indigenous fatalities involving Aboriginal peoples in the Port Phillip District offers valuable opportunities to deepen our knowledge of frontier interactions. Where the sources allow me, I address three questions: What is known of the victim? F indings indicate that similar to numerous Aboriginal victims whose identities remain unknown, there are approximately 23 European victims across Victoria whose names were not documented. Additionally, in six further cases, only partial names are available for the victims. How were they killed? In many cases we do not know the details of the killings, but in some we have almost coronial descriptions. Disembowelment and/or the removal of kidney fat is likely to suggest a retributive killing. Who did the killing? In certain cases, the sources disclose the identities of the Aboriginal individuals responsible for the killings; however, in many instances, their identities remain unknown. Volume Two covers central, northeast, and eastern Victoria, documenting killings from 1836 to 1851—beginning with two shepherds at Thologolong and ending with Daniel Moylan at Orbost. It also discusses the brief 1842 attempt by Port Phillip squatters to form a Yeomanry Corps for protection against Aboriginal attacks. The volume lists 27 cases needing further research, as well as ten false alarms and ten disproven or misrepresented killings.

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