Queensland Aboriginal Genocide

“	It is the fashion usually, to speak of these poor people as “aborigines:” the idea meant to be conveyed being that they are a relic, so to speak, of the past, intruders in the path of the white man, and to be improved from the face of the earth accordingly. The argument seems to be, that God never intended them to live long in the land in which He had placed them. Therefore, says the white man, in his superiority of strength and knowledge, away with them, disperse them, shoot and poison them, until there be none remaining; we will utterly destroy them, their wives and their little ones, and all that they have, and we will go in and possess the land. This is no rhapsody or overstatement, but represents, in words, the actual policy which has been pursued towards the natives of the Australian colonies, and which is being acted upon vigorously in Queensland today.	„
	~ George Carrington; Colonial Adventures and Experiences by a University man.

The Queensland Aboriginal Genocide was the mass killing of thousands of Aboriginal Australians in Queensland by Native Police units in the 19th century. Considered to be part of the Australian Frontier Wars as well as the larger Indigenous Australian Genocide, the genocide began after the initial colonization of Queensland by British settlers as a means of establishing penal settlements since 1823. It is estimated that a total of 65,180 aboriginal were people were killed between 1840 and 1897.

Background

Before the arrival of John Oxley in 1823, the aboriginal population in Queensland is believed to have numbered between 200,000 and 500,000 people, constituting 34% of the aboriginal population in Australia. The state of Queensland constituted the largest population of indigenous people than any other current state prior to European arrival, with Queensland consisting of a minimum of 90 language groups. Prior to John Oxley's arrival, some of the tribes living in the region were presumably already affected by foreign diseases, most likely introduced by Makassan seafarers from Indonesia as they traded with Yolngu tribes in Arnhem Land.

Before the extermination policy was officially enacted, massacres took place against aboriginal people. Starting in 1840, a "war of extermination" was issued against the Queensland aboriginal tribes by the colonial government. Most of the perpetrators in the massacres against the aboriginal peoples in Queensland consisted of Native Police forces and private citizens, who would often engage in snipe shooting against the natives and subject them to sexual slavery after capturing them. European intermarriage with aboriginal, Chinese and Melanesian people was also strictly prohibited by law. The Native Police officers would also burn the bodies in an attempt to conceal the evidence of their atrocities. In addition, natives who refused to be enrolled in the Native Police force or tried to escape were subjected to murder and kidnapping.

In retaliation for the Kilcoy poisoning of 1842, aboriginal tribes residing in southeastern Queensland issued a declaration of war against the settlers in 1843 to regain their lands. Two witnesses that were captured by the tribes were released through negotiation and fled to Brisbane. The two witnesses informed the town about the United Tribes' declaration of war and German missionaries sent a letter to the colonial government about the war declaration. Multugerrah led a series of attacks on settlements in Brisbane and the natives surrendered after their numbers dwindled, while Dundalli was captured and hanged when the war ended in 1855.

Under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act of 1897, aboriginal people were forced onto reserves to make space for settlements and the extermination policy officially ended, though violence and disease still persisted against the natives. Due to the massacres being mostly undocumented with the evidence being destroyed by the settlers, the colonists constructed the Pioneering Myth portraying the British settlement of Australia as peaceful. This myth also led to a series of historical debates over whether or not the systematic killings against Aboriginal Australians constituted genocide or even took place, in what's known as the "history wars".

List of massacres

• Grantham (January 10th, 1841) - A party of settlers massacred approximately eight people at a Yugara camp.
• Kilcoy Creek (January 2nd, 1842) - Sixty aboriginal people were poisoned after a group of shepherds working for Evan MacKenzie gave them a bag of flour laced with strychnine. This massacre led to the War of Southern Queensland.
• Yandilla Station (1842) - A squatter named Sydenham Russell and his two stockmen attacked an aboriginal camp at Yandilla station, killing eight natives.
• Mount Haldon (July 30th, 1843) - A reprisal party led by Christopher Rolleston killed twelve Yugara people in retaliation for the murder of a shepherd named Richard White and driving off his flock of sheep.
• Rosewood Scrub (1843) - After the Battle of One Tree Hill, a reprisal party of settlers chased a Yugara group led by Multugerrah and killed twelve people.
• Armstrong's Crossing (1843) - A report from the Queensland Times stated that a small group of natives were killed by British soldiers of the 99th regiment near a creek at Tent Hill.
• Darkey Flat (1845) - A group of farmers from Talgai station killed several McIntyre people after they heard that the natives were allegedly planning to raid their farm in retaliation for the raping of their women.
• Crampton's Corner (1844 - 1847) - A settler named Thomas Crampton killed "no less than fifteen blacks" after finding them sitting on some trees armed with spears.
• Callandoon Station (January 10th, 1847) - After James Mark killed 40 people in retaliation for the murder of his son, he continued his rampage with the help of Native Police officers and shot more natives at Callandoon station.
• Whiteside (March 31st, 1847) - 50-60 people were poisoned at the Whiteside sheep station, likely in retaliation for an aboriginal attack on a hutkeeper.
• Fraser Island (December 24th, 1851) - A party of soldiers exterminated approximately one hundred natives on Fraser island.
• Maryborough (November 1st, 1854) - A settler gave an aboriginal tribe poisoned flour, leading to the deaths of eight people.
• Fitzroy River (November 1st, 1860) - Native police forces slaughtered eight natives near the Fitzroy river in reprisal for the murder of a stockman.
• Nogoa River (October 25th, 1861) - In reprisal for the Cullin-La-Ringo massacre, in which 19 settlers were killed by aboriginal warriors, 30 natives were killed near the Nogoa river, one week after the massacre.
• Turtle Head Island (1867) - A group of Yadhaigana people were massacred by an aboriginal stockman for disturbing cattle.
• Pabaju Albany Island (June 1st, 1869) - A party of police officers killed ten Gudang turtle hunters on Pabaju Albany beach.
• Woombunderry Waterhole (1872) - A detachment of Native Police officers massacred an entire camp of Kungkari people in reprisal for the murder of a stockman, who was actually killed by Birria people in retaliation for trespassing on their territory.
• Skull Hole (1877) - In reprisal for the murder of a stockman, Native Police officers massacred two hundred Guwa people residing in Mistake Creek. News of the massacre circulated in 1901 after an article about an interview with a stockman named Hazelton Brock was published.
• Normanton (1887) - Six natives were killed by Native Police officers led by Lindon Poingdestre and their bodies were burned.
• Malanda (1890) - A reprisal party of settlers massacred six natives and captured an orphaned boy in retaliation for the murder of a miner named Frank Paske.