Elliston massacre formally recognised
In 1849, with Australia's frontier wars in full swing, an unknown number of Aboriginal people were rounded up at gunpoint and marched over the sheer limestone cliffs near Elliston on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.
For many years the massacre was denied by the white community, however the local people, the Wirangu, passed the story down from generation to generation. In more recent times academics have proven the event did happen: an anthropologist, Dr Tim Haines, said "perhaps tens or scores of people, maybe 25, maybe 50" were killed.
Yet some people in Elliston, a town with roots stretching back to the frontier wars, believe that isn't enough to constitute a massacre and opposed any memorial saying as much. The town was caught in a stalemate as the Wirangu pressed for recognition, yet they had the support of the local surfing community and late last week Elliston council finally resolved the issue.
Jack Johncock is a Wirangu elder.
Swellnet: It appears the attempts to have the massacre formally recognised hit another snag. Where is the issue up to?
Jack Johncock: All sorted, bro. It’s all done. All the wording is now approved for the monuments up on there on the cliff. We had a meeting with the Elliston council on Tuesday and sorted it late last week.
There was some issue around the word 'massacre being' included?
That’s right. There was a lot of controversy around the word massacre being included. That’s been going on a long time. The township of Elliston was very split about the use of the word. We...that is the Wirangu, put a proposal to council for what we wanted written up on the monuments. Something that represents the memory of the people that went over the cliff there.
Like you say, there was a lot of controversy about the word ‘massacre’. So I was very surprised when I went to the Elliston meeting last Tuesday and not one councillor nor anyone in the gallery mentioned the word massacre. They ummed and ahhed for a good bloody three hours!
I wasn't supposed to talk but I was sick of this bullshit going around and around and around. So I said, “Look, I’ve come up here, I’ve taken time off work. You're either going to vote for the phrase or vote against it. One way or another you've gotta take it off the floor. How about getting some bloody balls and voting yes or no.”
So they decided to have morning tea. (laughs)
Then, while they were having morning tea, a few of the councillors put their heads together and their lawyer came out and saw me and said, “Would you guys mind if they went ahead with the current wording but they take the word ‘large’ out of the statement?”
Actually, it may have been the word ‘many’ not ‘large’, but really, the only thing we were adamant about was that we wanted the word massacre in there. That's all. So they moved that motion about the word ‘many’, and I took it back to a Wirangu meeting in Port Lincoln last Thursday and we were happy for it, so it’s all go now.
Well that’s brilliant.
Yeah our lawyers are writing back now to say we’ve accepted it and to go ahead and print it on the marble.
Congratulations.
Thanks. I’ve been fighting this cause for thirty years and my mother before me spent her whole life fighting it so my mother can rest in peace now.
You said the township was divided. Might this ruling fix things?
Oh look, it was the bloody surfing community that supported us, you know? I’m going to write letters to the editor of the two local papers here on the west coast thanking the Elliston councillors that supported us and the surfers that supported us. I can't tell you what it means.
We had a lot of support from the surfing community, not just Elliston but up the coast too, Streaky, Cactus. I used to coach the Western United footy club so I know a lot of people out that way and they’d always say, “Don't give up Jack. Keep going. This is something that has to be done.”
This is from the wider community and in particular the surfing community, so I am absolutely rapt with guys like Ian Dudley and his wife, and all the people up at Elliston there who just kept trying. Feels good, you know?
We wouldn’t have got this over the line if it wasn't for their support. There's a few of them. They stood there. Some of them went to all the meetings and they weren't afraid to mouth off at what they thought was right.
Perhaps you could settle an argument for us. The premier wave in Elliston is called Blacks - short for Blackfellas - the name has long been attributed to the massacre, but is that correct?
No. Blackfellas has got nothing to do with it. What it is, is back in the day that was where the blackfellas used to go out off the rocks and collect their shellfish and stuff. That’s the only reason it's called Blacks. It's got nothing to do with the massacre.
You’ve achieved a lifelong goal and settled a mystery. Well done.
Thanks mate.
Comments
yes well done Jack.
Wow, amazing story. So glad that the truth be known we as white people admitted to the atrocities of the past. Every time i was there (Blacks) a story would go around and never knew the truth. So Jack good on you and your mum standing up what was a terrible piece of history.
Growing up in Lincoln and the peninsula the Elliston Massacre was/is folklore, but the really sinister aspect was the sheer denial by farmers who did their utmost to shut down all acknowledgement, this becmae more obvious when the memorial was proposed. The rewriting of history always felt like an abuse of power with a dark implication, like it doesn't matter what happens, white folk will always be cleared of wrongdoing. It takes an enormous amount of guts to rise up against that. Hats off to Jack and everyone who fought for this to happen.
Well done Jack.
Good work all round...including this interview.
A great achievement!
Stoked!
thats fucking awesome
Fantastic achievement.
Didn't, a similar event happen on the west coast of Vic around Peterborough
Truth is out ! Australia never looked better!
Respect to the Wirangu people past and present, incredible story of belief.
This is a step forward all right. Since I first surfed blacks in 1975 I have rarely seen a blackfella in the town, and it is to be hoped that this makes the beautiful bays of Elliston a place where local aboriginal people can feel comfortable again. A book titled "The Elliston Incident" was lent to me be Julie Hamden (now Julie Custance, and wife of the infamous "Skin" of Abalone Wars fame) in the 1980s and it was a fair and balanced summary of the knowledge available to the author, not shying away from the fact that defenceless tribal members were sent to their deaths in what appeared to the author to have been an escalating series of payback events that the guys with the horses and the guns were always going to win in the end. Only a few months ago I discovered that my four sons are in a direct line of descent from the Dharawal people of the Illawarra Coast in NSW, through their mother. Given the lengths that her family took to keep the aboriginal heritage a secret, perhaps partly to avaoid the chances of being subject to rounding up as part of the "stolen generation" it seems likely to me that many other Australians are in the same boat. That is, you didn't need to be removed from your family to lose your aboriginality, fear of being discovered as aboriginal in the 20C may often have been enough for people of aboriginal extraction to hide it, as my wife's family did. The connections were lost, and now, in many cases, the knowledge of family history and culture is also lost. many of you may be of aboriginal extraction without ever knowing it, my sons were. Now they know, and it is up to them to decide what that means to them. Shout out to the Dudleys at bramfield who obviously played a big part in supporting this process. Long time no see.
Great news. The massacre was already well known to the entire west coast community it never should have taken this long for it to be acknowledged.
On ya Jack!
The power of persistence & will. Great outcome.
I haven't really heard about this before but I cant understand what the incentive was for the council to not admit it had happened? Was it family orientated i.e the families descendent didn't want there name attached to it? Why was it so hard to come to this decision?
Ive also heard a similar thing about Petersbourgh in Vic..
I'am a surfer , who was born in Elliston . Even at school in the early day's, like it or not , it was alway's spoken off , as a Massacre of the local Aboriginal people . And that's what it was . So a welcome acknowledgment to the Wirangu people , after all these year's .
Nick that's exactly what it is
David Bevan (ABC 891) interviewed the Mayor of Elliston council and a couple of others the morning they had the meeting (last week). The Mayor said that he was opposed to the word massacre initially, but he was asked to take a couple of Wirangu women down to look at the monument at the site. The Elder woman cried when she saw the monument and the Mayor said that he was so moved by her reaction that it finally gave him a real understanding of what it meant to the Wirangu people. He changed his vote to the affirmative for the word 'massacre' being used.
Prof Lyndall Ryan at Newcastle Uni has been plotting a map of massacres of indigenous people throughout Australia. She and her team have completed most of the Eastern States.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/newsroom/featured-news/mapping-the-massacres-of-australias-colonial-frontier
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php
Big congrats to Jack, Wirangu elders past and present - and the surfing community that helped keep the story alive until this formal recognition was realised. Likewise to Swellnet, so I can share with my kids and develop a conversation around these difficult issues - part of being a modern, open Australian.
I've read 2 swellnet stories today, the other on Billabong shares - I'm very clear on the direction for surfing culture that I want to be a part of.
Thanks RR, though allow me to apologise in advance for my next article.
you going to throw me off a cliff?
No, just my reputation: https://www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-dispatch/2017/09/28/surfboard-wax-and-you-love-story
not elliston...
Incredible!
That is unbelievable.
You're so talented.
Great depiction, the sky, the ocean, colour, the old man and his ascendant. The descendant's long lost in the memory of history carved in rock. Ontheroad is this your art?
thanks mate. yep, old stuff - just thought it was relevant...
Great depiction OTR .
A rare day
Sends chills down my spine... Spent 5 years chasing the surf at this spot. Surfed it earlier this year -one of the more profound spiritual experiences ever. Recognition is one thing, initiation is another. Peace for those poor trapped souls.
Sends chills down my spine... Spent 5 years chasing the surf at this spot. Surfed it earlier this year -one of the more profound spiritual experiences ever. Recognition is one thing, initiation is another. Peace for those poor trapped souls.
Looks kinda shroomy
Nice work
If the legend say's that the massacre happened at Black's, and Jack say's it didn't, where did it happen?
"Perhaps you could settle an argument for us. The premier wave in Elliston is called Blacks - short for Blackfellas - the name has long been attributed to the massacre, but is that correct?
No. Blackfellas has got nothing to do with it. What it is, is back in the day that was where the blackfellas used to go out off the rocks and collect their shellfish and stuff. That’s the only reason it's called Blacks. It's got nothing to do with the massacre."
Round the other side of Watrloo Bay, Fishlegs. The southern side.
Watrloo Bay?
Gimme an 'e'.
Waterloo.
Haha, fair enough. Stoked to see that the Elliston crew got together to recognise the past and pay respect to the First Nations People who sacrificed so much to to live on 'THEIR" land.
Got the jitters when I went to Black's (Waterloo Bay) thirty five years ago. Didn't surf it then probable to old to surf it now.
If I had a known the massacre was around the corner, would it make a difference? probably not. It was just that the massacre happened in that town.
South of waterloo bay is a cliffline extending to Locks well (and beyond to Tungatta).
Perhaps it was nearer to the town and Waterloo bay, somewhere along the cliffs , to the sth of the bay.
Stories are, there was skulls & bones at the base of cliffs for years .
Nobody has indicated that exact place, it is rather mysterious although nobody seems to be concerned exactly where it was .
A cliffs a cliff in these parts ?
If you been to Black's you'd see with your own eyes that the terrain from the parking area to the water couldn't be fatal if you fell down the slope, steep yes, but fatal?
I recorded a song about the Myall Creek massacre with some mates about ten years ago.
https://soundcloud.com/blndboy/kilministers-confession
On Saturday the Waterloo Bay Massacre Memorial at Elliston was officially unveiled.
Following words and photos by Kyam Maher MLC:
Today was a special day... a day of recognition for Wirangu people that they have waited far too long for.
169 years ago a large number of their people were forced off a cliff at Waterloo Bay.
It was a massacre. They happened all over this state and this country.
Thanks to the District Council of Elliston, Chairman Kym Callaghan, for the courage and resilience to see today finally happen - the official launch of the Waterloo Bay Massacre Memorial on the Elliston Coastal Art Trail.
It’s not always easy or comfortable to look at the last 200 years of our history, but what happened in the past has a lot to do with who we are now, and a lot to do with our future together.
Reconciliation South is a journey not a destination.
As Senator Patrick Dodson said today “Elliston will be one of the places the country remembers for this. Reconciliation is not a one way street, it is a liberation for the perpetrators of wrong and the people who suffered through that wrong - it’s mutual, there is nothing to be lost for anyone”.
We can only move forward with truth-telling and I hope to see more memorials across South Australia that reflect the atrocities that were inflicted upon Aboriginal people during colonisation.
Great stuff and long overdue.
I'd like to see more of these memorials not just in the south but across Australia. We need to face our past and educate for the future.
Nice work and long overdue. Its about time the real history of Australian colonisation is starting to be recognised. Hopefully this is just the start, these events occurred all over the country.
The same atrocity happened in Gracetown men women children forced off the cliff. They were the most beautiful people and were betrayed and massacred. Le soufle was in charge. Their spirits don't rest and Margret's area is miserable for it. Redgate and Black point are other sites. Every site in this land needs to be acknowledge and cleansed.
Do you have any links to references about these events?
Have looked and nothing is showing up about a massacre or a "Le soufle" being in charge in WA
Studying historical records and education is essential in understanding the past.
As far as I can ascertain, these are the verifiable facts;
In March 1839, white settlers arrived from Adelaide, the capital of the colony of South Australia, to establish Port Lincoln on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula.
9 years later...
23 June 1848 - John Hamp, a hutkeeper on the Stony Point sheep station, was speared and clubbed to death by Aboriginals
August 1848 - at least one Aboriginal person was shot and killed by the overseer of the same station for stealing a shirt
May 1849 - five Aboriginal people – two adults, two boys and an infant – died after eating poisoned flour stolen by an Aboriginal man from William Ranson Mortlock's station near Yeelanna.
3 May 1849 - James Rigby Beevor was speared to death at his hut and goods stolen
7 May 1849 - Annie Easton was speared to death on an adjoining lease, goods stolen
27 May 1849 - stores were stolen from a hut on Thomas Cooper Horn's station and a hutkeeper and shepherd were threatened by Aboriginal people, who left with the goods they had taken.
The station owner and some of his station hands pursued the group, and when they caught up with the fleeing party of Aboriginal people shots were fired and spears thrown.
The Aboriginal group split in two, and Horn and his men followed one party to the Waterloo Bay cliffs, which the group tried to climb down in order to make their escape. Horn and his men opened fire, and two (2) Aboriginal people were killed and one was fatally wounded, with several more being captured.
The Uni of Newcastle lists 10 victims, although it cites a reference that records 2 victims.(1)
The same publication records 36 deaths of Aboriginals in SA at the hands of whites in the ten (10) years between 1839 and 1849.(2)
"There seems to be no direct evidence of any
‘crusade against the natives’ in the official documents from the period
1848–1850. The outletter book kept by Charles Driver still exists, but
there is no description of a massacre to be found in any of the many
letters Driver sent to the colonial secretary’s office in the period in
question. There is only one letter that might be read as suggesting that
there was a group of vigilantes out searching for the alleged murderers.
Similarly there is no direct evidence in the memoirs written by individuals
who were directly involved in the events of 1848–1849. None
of the policemen involved (Geharty, Tolmer and Henry Holroyd) has
anything to say about a massacre on the scale described in the legend.
Nathaniel Hailes, Charles Driver’s clerk, does not report any such event
in his memoirs. Nor has Sub-Protector (and later Court Translator)
Pastor Clamor Schürmann anything to say."
(1) https://www.elliston.sa.gov.au/contentFile.aspx?filename=Elliston%20Inci...
(2)https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/timeline.php
'Verifiable facts'? Good, you mean invasion and war. And connivingly lying about a whole race of people, classifying them as animals, so that the british 'empire' could wage war, masquerading as 'discovery'? Desecrating, destroying, raping and butchering totally innocent children, women and men. Obliterating their home of 60,000 years plus. Then any act of retaliation seen as 'vermin' causing problems. Or mocking that they weren't experts in the bloodbath of war that is the west's claim to fame.
History? You mean the propaganda of war. We learned so much from our beloved, psychopathic and idolized romans. Hey, did you know that lance armstrong didn't do drugs!!! They got that bastard, but none of them others do aye... but!!!!? Arny neither... but!!! Lil' billy never even knew what sex was, that monica bitch dun it all... but... aye!!! Promise... but!!! Ever shook some sleaze bag's hand, and next thing you catch them lying their fucking guts out? Why not, our nation was founded in lies, its the constitution. 'Relying humbly on the blessing of almighty God'. Western 'history' aka, 'weapons of mass destruction', on roids.
Racism is alive and well here. That was the saddest thing about the Adam Goodes incident. That kid was just parroting what she had learned. However, the racism here is not going unnoticed. No, Australia is more and more famous for it.
Here's some facts.
https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2017/12/9/another-mark-against-australias-n...
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/un-expert-says-australians-and-t...
https://www.unaa.org.au/2017/04/un-statement-on-australias-disturbing-al...
Better to fight for a wave, the bounty of war, stolen from the true owners of 60,000 years plus. Frothing frantically, 'emotional' blatherings in a fever pitched, shrill, squwarking, spittle and mist sprayed crescendo, about 'spiritual ownership', and that oh so, so, so, so long, 'spiritual connection', than about a whole race of heinously treated children, women and men. Australia's hidden, denied, but more and more exposed Holocaust.
All too true crypto. If reconciliation is a journey, it's one we have only just begun. Keep putting the truth out there!
If you look on a map, North America is up the top. But there is no up in space. History is written by the winners, DB
I hold the original people of these lands in the highest regard. Some of the most evolved souls the world has seen and forever the spirit of the land.
"...highest regard...most evolved souls..."
No issue with some of their fundamental cultural practices?
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/a-long-tradition-of-...
Does anyone actually believe this racist propaganda parading as 'science'!!?'
"Four `bucks' hold one on to each limb, while another presses on her stomach so as to compel her to draw her legs up: her thighs are now drawn apart and her eyes covered as to prevent her seeing the individual, probably a very old man, who is beckoned up from some hiding place to come and operate directly everything is ready.'
No wonder it was so easy for adolph to get psychopathic numbskulls, cretins, to feed kids into blast furnaces.
What a link dellab, wow, deadly accurate, down to the minute details, 'scientific, 'anthropological', on the spot eye witness reporting (fluent in all the dialects too). And wow again, 'they' witnessed the 'bucks' doing everything everywhere didn't 'they'! Yet, suddenly, the on the spot, eye witness, deadly accurate 'anthropological science' couldn't be sure if this man who came up from (probably), 'some hiding place' was very old or not... probably aye... but!!!
Who cares we seen him aaaye... but!!!
Invites were handed out everywhere! Yet, the stumbletons, burke and wills missed out!
They love using buckley for evidence when it suits, but he must have forgot!
That historical propaganda, that, 'see its ok, the 'science' wuz right after all, they weren't human, we done good after all', has been dealt with many, many times.
'Sexual assault, particularly child sexual assault, forms no part of Indigenous culture and a multitude of authoritative national reports have shown this to be a myth.'
http://www.shareourpride.org.au/sections/beyond-the-myths/
'As the title suggests, Liz Connor focuses particularly on print representations of Aboriginal women from the first instances of European exploration and settlement.
'Skin Deep argues that these representations were based on unfounded hearsay, yet they were circulated and reiterated until they became accepted as truth. In titling this review I took inspiration from one of the books opening lines (27):
[This] is a print history of settler impressions of Aboriginal women situated at that most potent juncture of racism and misogyny. This is a book of lies.'
'Dr Liz Conor is an ARC Future Fellow at La Trobe University, author of The Spectacular Modern Woman: Feminine Visibility in the 1920s (2004) and editor of the journal Aboriginal History. It took Conor over a decade to write Skin Deep, and this is evident in the wide-ranging subject matter, which spans hundreds of years and the entire Australian continent. In doing so, she hoped to stimulate non-Indigenous readers into reflecting on the insidious history of Europeans in Australia and how pervasive these manufactured “truths” have become.'
'This book was painstakingly researched over many years, and Conor’s deep engagement with the source material is a testament to this. Skin Deep continually highlights the ongoing relevance of the dark history Conor seeks to illuminate. This, I believe, is an important yet often forgotten element to writing history, particularly Australia’s colonial history.'
http://www.auswhn.org.au/blog/a-book-of-lies/
Do some in depth, critical, actual research if you are genuine.
Meanwhile, some more facts.
https://www.hrlc.org.au/news/2017/12/9/another-mark-against-australias-n...
Wait a minute!!!
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/the-earliest-aust...
Hang on!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-05-11/worlds-oldest-known-ground...
Shit, hang on again!!!
'The new research upends decades-old estimates about the human colonisation of the continent, their interaction with megafauna, and the dispersal of modern humans from Africa and across south Asia.
“People got here much earlier than we thought, which means of course they must also have left Africa much earlier to have traveled on their long journey through Asia and south-east Asia to Australia,” said the lead author, Associate Prof Chris Clarkson, from the University of Queensland.
“It also means the time of overlap with the megafauna, for instance, is much longer than originally thought – maybe as much as 20,000 or 25,000 years. It puts to rest the idea that Aboriginal people wiped out the megafauna very quickly.”
'Ya mean it puts all the bullshit to rest!!! Stuff that shite, fuck the truth, just find us all them faarkin' weapons of mass destruction and all the fucking sex toys an' shite ayye... but!!!
80,000 years. It gets more heinous and embarrassing by the minute.
Spirituaty advanced and at one with the land. I have had the honour of spending time in the western desert and witnessed first hand the powers of the magic man. It has not taken us long to destroy the the land. If we are to survive we have to adopt the native ways and repair the damage we have done. A lot of our spiritual leaders are child molesters.
Show some sense and give it a rest guys. "Recognition and Closure"
For sure recognition and closure, truth, is crucial.
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/aboriginal-archaeological-discovery-in...
'Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for a minimum of 65,000 years, a team of archaeologists has established - 18,000 years longer than had been proved previously and at least 5000 years longer than had been speculated by the most optimistic researchers.
The world-first finding, which follows years of archaeological digging in an ancient camp-site beneath a sandstone rock shelter within the Jabiluka mining lease in Kakadu, Northern Territory, drastically alters the known history of the trek out of Africa by modern humans, according to the leader of the international team of archaeologists, associate professor Chris Clarkson of the University of Queensland.
The findings, which are already causing intense interest in archaeological circles across the world, have been peer reviewed by internationally recognised scientists and are published this week in the world's most prestigious science journal, Nature.
Among the trove of discoveries are the world's oldest stone axes with polished and sharpened edges, proving that the earliest Australians were among the most sophisticated tool-makers of their time: no other culture had such axes for another 20,000 years.
The team had also found the oldest known seed-grinding tools in Australia, a large buried midden of sea shells and animal bones, and evidence of finely made stone spear tips.
Professor Clarkson said one of the most striking finds was the huge quantity of ground ochre, right from the oldest layers. This suggested the first humans to populate Australia were already enthusiastic artists, and had continued to be so through their continuing culture in an area known for its spectacular rock art.
"Now we know humans were living in northern Australia a minimum of 65,000 years ago, the search will be on to discover each of the steps they took on the way," Professor Clarkson said.
The discovery also confirms that Australian Aborigines undertook the first major maritime migration in the world - they had to sail a minimum of 90 kilometres across open sea to reach their destination whatever route they took in their long journey out of Africa.
No other humans had undertaken such a journey 65,000 years ago. However, after crossing between islands, they could have walked the last stretch between Papua New Guinea and northern Australia because sea levels were so low at that time, Professor Clarkson said.'
'We found evidence for the mixing of ochre with reflective powders made from ground mica to make a vibrant paint. Currently, the oldest known rock art in the world is dated to 40,000 years ago in Sulawesi (a possible stepping stone to Australia). But the abundant ground ochre and use of mica indicates that artistic expression took place in the region much earlier.
Our new ages suggest that Australia was settled well before modern humans entered Europe about 45,000 years ago. This means that the earliest art and symbolism in Europe is of limited relevance to understanding modern technology and symbolic expression in South and Southeast Asia and Oceania. '
https://theconversation.com/buried-tools-and-pigments-tell-a-new-history...
https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/australia/indigenous-archaeology-r...
“Australians are truly one of the world’s great human populations and a very ancient one at that, with deep connections to the Australian continent and broader Asian region. About this now there can be no dispute.”
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aborig...
We need to dissolve the darkness before moving into the light. And that is what I have been working on.
I'd like to put some shells at the base of the memorial, anybody know where I can mail them to, for delivery on my behalf.
It's a really small town fishlegs....reckon you could just send it to the Post Office and they would take care of it.
No worries MadDog, I'll chuck them in a box and mail them off with a note on the outside to explain.
Great piece. And an important story. Will be cool to check this out in person soon.