Saturday, May 4, 2019

Mass poisonings of Aboriginal Australians

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During the British colonisation of Australia, land ownership was forcefully transferred from the various Indigenous populations to the colonists. Several military and paramilitary organisations such as the [[British Army]], [[Native Police]], [[Border Police]] and [[New South Wales Mounted Police]] were utilised by the British to eliminate any Aboriginal resistance to this acquisition of land. However, it was often the responsibility of the pioneering colonists themselves to take the initiative in enforcing land ownership transferal. Usually this was done violently through the use of firearms to intimidate or kill the native people. Some colonists though, chose an alternative approach, using poison concealed in consumables as a method of extirpating the original custodians of the land. The tainted consumables were either knowingly given out to groups of native people, or purposely left in accessible places where they were taken away and eaten collectively by the local clans. As a result, incidents of mass deaths of [[Aboriginal Australians]] due to these deliberate mass poisonings occurred throughout the continent.<ref name="Elder">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><ref></ref>

The mass poisonings were generally done in a secretive manner but there are many documented cases with some involving police and government investigations. They appear to have begun as a colonial method in Australia during the 1820s when toxic substances utilised in the [[sheep farming]] industry became readily available. Chemicals such as [[arsenic]], [[strychnine]], [[corrosive sublimate]], [[aconitum]] and [[prussic acid]] were all used, with the last known incident occurring in 1936. There are no cases of convictions being reported against any of the perpetrators of these mass poisonings.

==Some examples of mass poisonings==
* 1824, Bathurst - members of the [[Wiradjuri]] people poisoned with arsenic infused damper.<ref name="Elder" />
* 1827, Hunter Valley - colonists along the Hunter River poisoning Aboriginals with [[corrosive sublimate]].<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* ~1833, Gangat - large number of Aboriginals killed near [[Gloucester, New South Wales|Gloucester]] by being given poisoned flour in up to three separate incidents.<ref></ref><ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 1840, Glen Innes - reports of deaths of Aboriginals by [[prussic acid]] poisoning investigated by government authorities but denied by pastoralists.<ref></ref>
* 1841, Wannon River - at least seven Aboriginals poisoned to death on one of the [[Henty brothers]]' leaseholds.<ref name="Clark">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 1842, Tarrone - at least nine Aboriginals poisoned to death near [[Port Fairy]] by being given poisoned flour on the squatting run of James Kilgour.<ref name="Clark" />
* 1847, Kangaroo Creek - close to 30 Aboriginals killed by poison given to them in flour by Thomas Coutts near [[Grafton, New South Wales|Grafton]]. Coutts was arrested and sent to Sydney but the case was dropped.<ref></ref>
* ~1890, Dungog - "young blacks" begging near to town "were easily disposed of" by being given poison in their food.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 1895, Fernmount - six Aboriginals poisoned to death near [[Bellingen, New South Wales|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.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
* 1936, Timber Creek - five Aboriginals killed by arsenic being put in their food.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>

==References==


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