Myall Creek is a dot on the map which has now become the site of an inspirational reconciliation between connections from both sides of the infamous Myall Creek massacre 170 years ago. A memorial to the victims of the massacre was unveiled in 2000, consisting of a granite rock and plaque overlooking the site of the massacre. A ceremony is held there each year on June 10.
In 1838, Myall Creek Station was an outpost of colonial NSW, with its ambitious rulers and squatters wanting to build and expand the colony. As the colony expanded, it collided with more and more of black Australia, whose tribes wanted to continue to live in their age-old ways.
The white settlers often expended considerable amounts of money and energy building their own little fiefdoms. The Aboriginal people had no concept of land titles and individual ownership of animals, and watched with horror as the new settlers ruined hunting grounds, denied access to essential land and generally made life difficult if not impossible. It was a recipe for disaster.
The Myall Creek Massacre took place on June 10, 1838, on Henry Dangar’s station near Inverell. Twenty eight friendly Aborigines were slaughtered by a dozen squatters and stockmen. It was one of many massacres, but it was different because seven of the perpetrators, all of convict descent, were put on trial.
The wealthy classes of the day were incensed. They believed the squatters and stockmen were doing the work of the British Empire and couldn’t believe British law would find against them.
They brought enormous pressure to bear on William Hobbs, the superintendent who had reported the crime, and the convict George Anderson, who had not joined the mob but tried to protect the Aborigines.
The first trial returned a verdict of not guilty.
“I knew the men were guilty of murder but I would never see a white man hanged for killing a black,” one juror told a newspaper.
When the group were tried a second time, the Sydney Morning Herald, owned by wealthy people with a vested interest in the expansion of the colony, led the outrage.
“The whole gang of black animals are not worth the money the colonists will have to pay for printing the silly court documents on which we have already wasted too much time.”
Seven stockmen were eventually found guilty of murder and hung, the first time in Australia that a white man had hung for murdering a black one. The ringleaders, including a wealthy squatter, were never brought to justice.
Hobbs, the whistle blower whose conscience would not let him turn a blind eye, was sacked, and had trouble finding another job. Whistle blowers today often face the same fate.
Charles Kilmeister, Hobbs and Anderson had been friendly with the Aboriginal tribe camped at Myall Creek station. Why would Kilmeister join the armed mob while Anderson did not? What makes one man yield to pressure while another stands firm?
It is the same question as was asked of ordinary Germans after WWII. What made some betray Jews, and others hide them? What made some Hutus slaughter Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994, while others held back?
Under pressure, carbon can crumble or turn to diamond. Until you are tested, you do not know whether your core will be diamond or not. Practising courage and integrity in everyday situations helps prepare us for the more major tests.
We may not face a life or death choice like those at Myall Creek, but we will all face major choices in our lives. What is at our core?
For an interesting account of the Myall Creek Massacre, I recommend Peter Stewart’s Demons at Dusk.