Despite having occupied the continent for 65,000 years, the indigenous population of Australia was viewed as nomadic with no concept of land ownership. Using the erroneous concept of 'terra nullius,' these communities had their own customs, language and laws yet were driven from their traditional lands by the settling colonial forces.
Conflict ensued as native communities resisted settlement. Orchestrated colonial attacks and private acts of violence and murder resulted in a series of massacres that spanned the frontier. Many communities were shot with muskets or cannons, while others had their water and food poisoned.
Most Australians are oblivious to warriors such as Pemulwuy and Windradyne, massacres such as Myall Creek, Risdon Cove or Williams Valley or even how locations in their own towns and communities such as Poison Waterhole Creek, Murder Island or Skull Hole attained their names.
This project documents sites of Australian Indigenous massacres. From places where men, women and children were subjected to canon fire to locations where entire communities were shot, poisoned or pushed off cliffs, these are important and sacred sites that have been left out of Australia’s sterilized account of its history.
