Gunai Kurnai War and Resistance
Summary ▸Events in this conflict will be added as Australian Wars and Resistance research continues.
-
1 Jan 1840 – 31 Dec 1840LaTrobe Valley — massacre
-
1 Jan 1840 – 1 Jan 1844Rabbit Island
-
1 Oct 1840 – 31 Oct 1840Boney Point, Gippsland — massacre
-
1 Jan 1841 – 31 Dec 1841Butchers Creek, Gippsland — massacre
-
1 Jan 1842 – 31 Dec 1842Tambo Crossing — massacre
-
1 Dec 1842 – 31 Dec 1842Hollands Landing, Gippsland — massacre
-
1 Jul 1843 – 31 Jul 1843Bruthen Creek, Gippsland — massacre
-
1 Jul 1843 – 31 Jul 1843Warrigal Creek, Gippsland — massacre
-
1 Jul 1843 – 31 Jul 1843Warrigal Creek Mouth — massacre
-
15 Jul 1843 – 31 Jul 1843Freshwater Creek, Gippsland — massacre
-
15 Jul 1843 – 31 Jul 1843Gammon Creek, Gippsland — massacre
-
20 Dec 1846Snowy River — massacre
-
1 Jan 1850 – 31 Dec 1850The Slaughterhouse — massacre
-
2 May 1851 – 31 May 1851Milly, Brodribb River — massacre
The following lists references to some people involved in this conflict. More may be added in future.
This information has been collected from various sources, including the Colonial Frontier Massacres, 1788-1930 project (Ryan et al, 2025) and the South Australian Frontier and it's Legacies project (Foster et al), as well as ongoing research in primary sources. Finding and gathering this much information in millions of pages of colonial texts and other sources would not be possible without the use of computer automation. All information is checked but human and computer error can persist. Please let us know any corrections. Where possible, links are provided to sources to read the full text.
Country/Nation/People/Language indicates which Indigenous group people belonged to. Different people in different places prefer different terminology, and sometimes the 'belonging' relates to one of these not another. In many cases, due to colonists' limited knowledge, the archival record only uses generalised and sometimes racist terms (eg: 'blacks' or 'Murrimbidgee blacks'). In the absence of any other detail, although people travelled and visisted, we may infer the people involved were the people of the region the event occurred.
Listed are:
- Named Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people. This includes people involved in violent action, or in some other way involved, such as messengers. In many cases only the colonists' name (alias or aka - 'also known as') for the person is available.
- Colonists involved in the conflict. This includes people who were involved in violent actions such as massacres and shooting, or whose stock, runs or huts were raided, or similar. It may include people who played a significant role in the conflict in other ways, such as the Governor or regional administrators who ordered actions or established policies in relation to the conflict.
- Unnamed individuals or groups of people. This is as specific as possible. If a group is mentioned that is indicated and if an individual is mentioned, we also list that individual. It may be difficult to disentangle which individuals and groups in source texts are the same, and which different. Indigenous people go unnamed in colonial records of conflict encounters more commonly than colonists, but sometimes reporting also did not refer to low status workers and convicts by name, and referred to them by role, such as 'a stockman', 'a shepherd', or by their employer's name, such as, 'Mr Smith's men'.
- Auxilliaries. This is a general category for people aiding or working for one side or another, who might not be regarded as 'from' that side. Usually this means Indigenous people working for, or acting on behalf of colonists such as trackers, workers and Native Police. This can also apply to colonists working within and on behalf of Indigenous culture (such as William Buckley). The distinction is not always clear cut and some individuals acted on both sides of the conflict or changed sides. This may be voluntarily or by coercion.
No resolved people found for this war.
Unnamed Aboriginal People
- Side
- Aboriginal
- Interaction type
- killing
- Direct violence
- Yes
- Quotation
- "Accounts reached this place a few days ago of another murder committed by the blacks on the head of the Ovens River, at Dr. Mackay's station."
- Citation
- ERRORS OF THE PRESS. (1840, June 24). The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840), p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- URL
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- External ID
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175__event_001__actor_001
- External system
- openai_event_extract_v1
- Side
- Aboriginal
- Interaction type
- killing
- Direct violence
- Yes
- Quotation
- "Accounts reached this place a few days ago of another murder committed by the blacks on the head of the Ovens River, at Dr. Mackay's station."
- Citation
- ERRORS OF THE PRESS. (1840, June 24). The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840), p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- URL
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- External ID
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175__event_001__actor_001
- External system
- openai_event_extract_v1
Unnamed Colonists
- Side
- Colonist
- Interaction type
- attack; wounding
- Direct violence
- Yes
- Quotation
- "They have attacked Mr. Smith's men on the King River, one of whom had a very narrow escape."
- Citation
- ERRORS OF THE PRESS. (1840, June 24). The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840), p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- URL
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- External ID
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175__event_004__actor_002
- External system
- openai_event_extract_v1
- Number of people
- 8
- Side
- Colonist
- Interaction type
- attack; shooting; property destruction
- Direct violence
- Yes
- Quotation
- "they planted themselves behind trees close to the hut where there were seven or eight men and one woman, commenced firing on it;"
- Citation
- ERRORS OF THE PRESS. (1840, June 24). The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840), p. 3. Retrieved August 10, 2026, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- URL
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175
- External ID
- http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31725175__event_005__actor_002
- External system
- openai_event_extract_v1
Unnamed Auxilliaries
This data has not yet been gathered. Research work is ongoing. To help, please consider donating or contact us to volunteer or about setting up research projects in your area.