September 3.
Treaty by Glenn Loughrey
Indigenous people driven off their land.
Tasmanian Aborigines to be driven off their land.
On 1 October 1830 [Governor] Arthur extended martial law to the whole of Van Diemen's Land, so as to enable the 'active and extended system of military operations against the Natives'. Following some preliminary patrols on 4 October [1] the 'Black Line' commenced its advance on a 120-mile (195 km) front on 7 October. The force was divided into three divisions – commanded by Major Douglas of the 63rd Regiment, and Captain D'arcey Wentworth of the 63rd[Regiment] and Captain V Y Donaldson of the 57th [Regiment] – with each division being divided into corps commanded by army officers. Civilians were organised into parties of ten with leaders chosen by the local magistrates, but were ultimately under military command. The parties moved forward in extended order with no attempt at stealth. The aim was to 'beat the bush in a systematic manner' and drive the Aborigines ahead of them to the coast. To ensure each party kept to its line of advance, Arthur allocated each a number and ordered that they continually confirm their relative position by shouting their number, firing muskets and blowing bugles. [2]
...The Line continued to advance, and on 20 October the Northern and Western Divisions joined, forming a continuous cordon for the first time. After a halt on the 22nd to allow stragglers to catch up, the Line moved forward again until, on 24 October, the force had concentrated on a 30-mile (50 km) front. Arthur then ordered another halt, this time due to torrential rain. During this pause Arthur sent patrols forward to look for Aborigines which he believed were being driven ahead of the Line. One of these civilian patrols led by Edward Walpole found a camp of Big River and Oyster Bay people, and at dawn on 25 October tried to capture them. In the ensuing skirmish, the settlers killed two and captured a man and a boy named Ronekeennarener and Tremebonenerp. The other Aborigines escaped through the Line. [3]Arthur later claimed that Walpole should not have tried to seize the Aborigines, but McMahon has shown that Arthur had indeed sent the patrols forward to effect a capture and that Arthur's charge against Walpole was an attempt after the event to find a scapegoat for the Line's failure. [4]
1. McMahon, British army and counter-insurgency, p 60.
2. Government Order, 22 September 1830, Governor's Proclamation, 1 October 1830, letter Arthur to Murray, 20 November 1830, memo – Arthur, 20 November 1830, BPP Australia, 4: 239, 243, 245, 244: letter – Arthur to Major Sholto Douglas, 63rd Regiment, 8 October 1830, AOT CSOI 324/7578/9 Pt A.
3. Letter – Edward Walpole to Arthur, 29 October 1830, AOT CSOI 324/7578/9 Pt E; Robinson,
Friendly Mission, p 318. Walpole incorrectly stated that the skirmish took place on 26 October. McMahon points out that it took place the previous day. McMahon, British army and counter-insurgency, p 68. Walpole received a land grant for the capture of the two men. Robinson, Friendly Mission, p. 1045.
4. Memo – Arthur, 20 November 1830, BPP Australia, 4: 245; McMahon, British army and counter-insurgency, pp. 67-71. Mark Cocker, in the most recent book on the 'Black Line' repeats Arthur's line, and refers to Walpole (even in the index) as a 'buffoon'. Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold: Europe's Conflict with Tribal Peoples, Pimlico, London, 1999, pp. 151, 415.
Acknowledgment: John Connor, The Australian Frontier Wars, pp. 95, 97, 146, n.69, n.70, 147, n.74, n.75.
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Destructive violence in Western Australia
…Jandamarra no doubt became aware of the carnage wrought by the police and settlers following the armed Bunuba rebellion. News of the blood-letting at Danggu (Geikie Gorge), where in separate attacks, McDermott and Pilmer reported killing twenty-four Bunuba and Gooniyandi people, must have surely reached him. He would have heard also of Drewery’s party attacking a large Bunuba assembly at Miluwundi, where nine were officially reported killed…Besides Lawrence’s campaign, troopers Spong and Anderson went on a rampage at Oobagooma Station, shooting dead twenty Worrorra people. The total number of Aboriginal deaths by police bullets will never be known. Official police records record that eighty-four were shot dead during the period of ‘discretionary powers’ between November 1894 and March 1895…Unquestionably, the figure was a fraction of the number who died.
The police offensive in the aftermath of Jandamarra’s inspired rebellion was the most sustained slaughter of Aboriginal people in Western Australia’s history.
Acknowledgment: Howard Pedersen & Banjo Woorunmurra, Jandamarra & the Bunuba Resistance, pp. 154-5