Myall Creek and beyond

Abstract

On the afternoon of 10 June 1838, a group of eleven convicts and ex-convict stockmen, led by a squatter, brutally slaughtered a group of twenty-eight Wirrayaraay men, women and children who were camped peacefully at the station of Myall Creek in the New England region (NSW). Whilst Myall Creek was not the first, last, or largest massacre to occur, its significance lies in the fact it was the first time the perpetrators of an Aboriginal massacre were convicted a hanged for the murder os Australian First Nations People. However, whilst this may have been perceived as an act of justice, it changed the way in which the massacre of Aboriginal people was spoken about. Instead, massacres post-1838 were then undertaken under a shroud of secrecy.