A very sad and shameful footnote in
Australia's
history. The Myall Creek Massacre of June 1838 was a crime of racial hatred.
About 50 Kwiambal
Aborigines had set up camp the previous month and had a good relationship with the local Europeans. However, a group of
emancipists and assigned
convicts 60 kilometres away went out hunting the Aborigines whom they believed had stolen some
livestock. On 10 June, while the male Aborigines were working as bark cutters, twelve Europeans seized those who had remained behind and made them walk half a kilometre to a stockyard. Here they proceeded to sever parts of the Aboriginal women, children
and elders before decapitating them. When tried for the murder of an elder, the
jury took fifteen minutes to deliver a
verdict of innocent for eleven men. Later
seven were arrested for the murder of one of the children and hanged after confessing, though public opinion was against them being punished. The men's only defence was that "because killing Aborigines was a
frontier sport, they didn't realise it was illegal."