Remembering the Myall Creek Massacre

The 1838 Myall Creek Massacre is remembered for the brutality of the crime committed by white settlers against innocent Aboriginal men, women and children, but also because eleven of the twelve assassins were arrested and brought to trial. Amid tremendous controversy, seven were hanged. Myall Creek was not the last time the colonial administration sought to apply the law equally to Aboriginal people and settlers, but it was the last time perpetrators of a massacre were convicted and hanged.

Marking its 180th anniversary, this book explores the significance of one of the most horrifying events of Australian colonialism. Thoughtful and fearless, it challenges us to look at our history without flinching as an act of remembrance and reconciliation.

Jane Lydon is the Wesfarmers Chair of Australian History at the University of Western Australia, and currently serves as the Chair of History (2016–2018). Jane wrote The Flash of Recognition, published by NewSouth in 2012.

Lyndall Ryan is Conjoint Professor of History in the Centre for the History of Violence at the University of Newcastle. Lyndall is a trailblazing historian of Indigenous Australia (her book The Tasmanian Aborigines was published in 1981).

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