Coorong, Adelaide and Yorke War and Resistance

Summary ▸

A summary of this war and resistance will be available in future.

Notes:

  • Sealers and whalers who kidnapped women established violent relations.
  • Explorers at the Coorong looking for the mouth of the Murray-Darling system and others passing through were killed, probably due to the hostile relations established by sealers and whalers.
  • With Adelaide established by free settlers rather than convicts, there was violence and resistance, but it's severity relative to other parts of Australia may have been ameliorated by the efforts of Mullawirraburka and Kadlitpinna, with Wyatt and other colonists to quell violence and retaliation.
  • When the 'Maria' was ship wrecked at the Coorong, many were killed in a rare massacre of colonists by Aboriginal people. This lead to Government ordered reprisals and killing of Aboriginal people.
  • Violence and resistance expanded from Adelaide into the Yorke Peninsula and to the north.
  • This was followed by conflicts at Port Lincoln (Eyre Peninsula) to the west; on overland routes between Adelaide and the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers and Port Phillip (Victoria), and further north in the Flinders Ranges. Also, the Northern Territory was governed from Adelaide when there was extensive violence there later.

Data has been generously provided by:

Robert Foster, Skye Krichauff and Amanda Nettelbeck, The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 2024, http://ua.edu.au/south-australian-frontier

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.

Aboriginal People

Unnamed Aboriginal People

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.

Unnamed Colonists

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.

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.