Mass poisonings of Aboriginal Australians

Mass poisonings of Aboriginal Australians
Abandoned Aboriginal boys standing near a livestock dam. William Best alleged that large scale deliberate poisonings of local Wiradjuri occurred from poisoned waterholes.
Date	Mid-1800s, irregular occurrences since then
Attack type	Poisoning
Perpetrator	British colonisation of Australia, Settlers

John Arthur Macartney, allegedly involved in the poisoning of Aboriginal Australians

Several recorded instances of mass poisonings of Aboriginal Australians occurred during the British colonisation of Australia. Aboriginal resistance to colonisation led settlers to look for ways to kill or drive them off their land. While the settlers would typically attempt to eliminate Aboriginal resistance through massacres, occasionally they would attempt to secretly poison them as well. Typically, poisoned food and drink would be given to Aboriginal people or left out in the open where they could find it.

Whilst Aboriginal raids on new settlers' homes may have led to the consumption of poisonous products which had been mistaken for food, there is some evidence that tainted consumables may have either been knowingly given out to groups of Aboriginal people, or purposely left in accessible places where they were taken away and eaten collectively by the local clans. As a result, numerous incidents of deaths of Aboriginal people due to the consumption of poisonous substances occurred throughout the decades, and in many different locations. ^{[1] [2]}

There are many documented cases of poisonings, with some involving investigations by police and government. There are no cases of convictions being reported against anyone for deliberate poisoning. ^{[1] [2]}

Examples

• 1827, Hunter Valley, New South Wales – colonists along the Hunter River accused of discussing poisoning Aboriginal people with corrosive sublimate. No poisoning actually occurred as it is extremely unlikely to have even been stocked in the colony. ^[3]
• 1830s, Gangat, New South Wales, Mid-Coast Council – some Aboriginal people died near Gloucester, New South Wales, after allegedly having eaten "Johnny cakes" laced with arsenic in up to three separate incidents. The poisoners were barricaded inside the station surrounded by between 50-60 Aboriginal Men who were holding the station hostage to hand over all of the food rations which had recently been delivered. The two men inside the station who were just passing through, deciding it was self defense, poisoned the flat bread and threw it out the door, quickly resealing the station again. ^{[4] [5]}
• 1840s, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales – pioneer colonists to the region, William Best and Alexander Davidson, both recounted large scale deliberate poisonings of local Wiradjuri people in the early 1840s. The poison was delivered via milk or through the poisoning of waterholes. ^{[6] [7]} Mary Gilmore, a poet and story teller, who lived near Wagga Wagga as a child, also wrote about a mass poisoning that occurred around the Murrumbidgee River. ^{[8] [9]}
• 1840, Glen Innes, New South Wales – reports of deaths of Aboriginal people by prussic acid poisoning investigated by government authorities but denied by pastoralists. ^[10]
• 1841, Wannon River, Victoria – at least seven Aboriginal people poisoned to death on one of the Henty brothers' leaseholds. ^[11]
• 1842, Tarrone, Victoria – at least nine Aboriginal people poisoned to death near Port Fairy by being given poisoned flour on the squatting run of James Kilgour. ^[11]
• 1842, Mount Kilcoy, Queensland – more than one hundred of Aboriginal people were poisoned to death ^[12] at an outpost of Evan Mackenzie's Kilcoy property. ^{[13] [14]}
• 1844, Ipswich, Queensland – around a dozen Aboriginal people were poisoned at the government-run farm known as Plough Station near Ipswich. A convict, John Seller, offered them biscuits containing arsenic after a dispute over him being intimate with a female member of the clan. Three died and Seller was charged with their murder. He was not convicted but as he was already serving a sentence for a previous crime, he was transferred south to the Cockatoo Island prison where he was released after two years of submitting to hard labour. ^[15]
• 1846, Tyntynder, Victoria – between 8 and 20 Aboriginal people allegedly killed by eating poisoned flour allegedly given to them by Scottish colonist Andrew Beveridge near Swan Hill. ^[16]
• 1847, Whiteside, Queensland – at least three Aboriginal people allegedly killed by arsenic-laced flour being placed out for them to take. This was said to have occurred on the Whiteside squatting run of Captain George Griffin, although there are no newspaper reports (from the period) which can corroborate this claim. ^[17]
• 1847, Kangaroo Creek, New South Wales – 23 Aboriginal people were killed by ingesting poison in flour received from Thomas Coutts near Grafton. Coutts was arrested and sent to Sydney but he was not convicted. After Coutts Hutkeeper was murdered Commissioner Fry stated "There is no people who entertain a stronger sense of retributive justice than the Aborigines of New Holland . With them "Blood for Blood" is a necessary (and where circumstances render it possible) an in violable maxim , according with their superstitions, and essential to their existence." Coutts was released never to return to the area. ^[18]
• 1849, Port Lincoln, South Australia – five Aboriginal people including an infant were killed after consuming stollen flour which was mixed with arsenic from inside the hut of hutkeeper Patrick Dwyer near Port Lincoln. Mr. Dwyer, who was paid in rations had become vengeful after continuously having his already poor rations stollen. Despite being arrested with strong evidence against him, Dwyer was released from custody on bail by Charles Driver, the Government Resident at Port Lincoln. Mr Dwyer then fled the colony via Port Adelaide, escaping to California. ^[19]
• 1856, Hornet Bank, Queensland – a number of Aboriginal people killed by being given strychnine-laced Christmas pudding in the lead-up to the Hornet Bank massacre. ^[20] . The poisoning was not raised at the time, although during the night of 27 October 1857, Aborigines entered a darkened homestead on the Dawson River, Central Queensland, and killed all the men, except a 14 year old boy who was knocked unconscious and left for dead. Then they raped the three eldest women and then proceeded to kill all of the women and children including babies and infants. This lead to a outbreak of violence between the tribe and the authorities which resulted in the death of up to 150 aboriginal people.
• 1860s South Ballina poisoning: The South Ballina clan of the Nyangbal people were a tribe, sub-group or estate group of the Bundjalung nation, numbering about 200 people during the early development of Ballina township. During the early 1860s a mass poison attempt was made. Poisoned flour was given to the Bundjalung Nation Nyangbal Aboriginal people to make damper. The Nyangbal Aboriginal people took it to their camp at South Ballina for preparation & cooking. The old people and children of the Nyangbal tribe refused to eat the damper as it was a new food. Upon waking the next morning, survivors of the Nyangbal tribe found nearly 150 adults dead. There is no evidence to support this horrific story, which has had extensive investigation including the search for as yet undiscovered graves.
• 1885, Florida Station, Northern Territory – a large number of Yolngu people became ill and died after being given poisoned horse-meat on John Arthur Macartney's newly established Florida cattle station in north-eastern Arnhem Land. ^[21]
• 1895, Fernmount, New South Wales – six Aboriginal people poisoned to death near Bellingen by being given aconite to drink by John Kelly. Kelly was suspected of manslaughter and committed for trial but was found not guilty and discharged. ^{[22] [23]}
• 1896, Lakeland Downs, Queensland – A number of Aborigines murdered a Scottish colonist, stealing his belongings. They mistook arsenic for flour, which they consumed and which resulted in their deaths. It was described by the newspaper as "just retribution" after they had murdered Mr Donald McKenzie inside his own home and proceeded to steal his belongings, in what was an unprovoked attack. ^[24]
• 1936, Timber Creek, Northern Territory – five Aboriginal people killed by arsenic being put in their food near Timber Creek. ^[25] The Argus newspaper reported the male person did this after he had been mortally speared by the aborigines and knew they would raid his camp and he was unable to defend himself due to the wounds they had already inflicted on him. ^[26]
• 1981, Alice Springs, Northern Territory – two Aboriginal people were killed and fourteen others were made ill by drinking from a bottle of sherry which had strychnine deliberately added to it. ^{[27] [28] [29] [30]}

In popular culture

The Secret River , a 2005 Fiction Novel by Kate Grenville, graphically depicts a Fictional account of a deliberate mass poisoning of Indigenous Australians camped along the Hawkesbury River. ^[31] The novel was later adapted into a stage play ^[32] and also a television mini-series. ^[33]

Twelve Canoes , a 2008 documentary project and series about the culture and history of the Yolŋu people directed by Rolf de Heer, relates details of the Florida Station poisoning that allegedly occurred in Arnhem Land in 1885. ^[34]

Edenglassie , the multi-award winning 2023 historical novel by Melissa Lucashenko, details Aboriginal groups' fear and trauma of mass murder by poisoning in the 19th century. Characters refer to poisoned flour as 'muckenzie' flour. In an author's note at the conclusion of the book, Lucashenko writes that "the campaign of sustained attacks across the Australian continent from the late 1700s can only be viewed as constituting either war crimes, or as terrorism."

See also

• Australian frontier wars
• Genocide of Indigenous Australians
• List of massacres of Indigenous Australians
• Smallpox blankets

References

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27. "Police tracing source of wine poison". The Canberra Times . Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 April 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 23 December 2019– via Trove.
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29. "Police fly to station". The Canberra Times . Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 3 April 1981. p. 7. Retrieved 23 December 2019– via Trove.
30. "Poison-wine murder". The Canberra Times . Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 17 October 1981. p. 8. Retrieved 23 December 2019– via Trove.
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34. "Twelve Canoes". vimeo.com. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2021.