The Friends of Myall Creek

The Friends of Myall Creek seek to raise awareness of the Myall Creek Massacre and in so doing assist in the journey of reconciliation between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians.

This site is the offical website of the Friends of Myall Creek.

It is our firm belief that a vital step in this journey to reconciliation is gaining a knowledge and understanding of the truth of our shared history. 

“The road to our future travels through the past.”

The Myall Creek Massacre

Late in the afternoon on Sunday 10th June 1838, a gang of 12 stockmen brutally slaughtered a group of some 28 Aboriginal men, women and children who were camped peacefully next to the station huts on the Myall Creek cattle station in northern N.S.W.

Despite the fact that the Myall Creek Massacre was just one of the countless massacres that took place right across the country from the earliest days of British settlement to 1928, it stands alone in its historical significance. It is so significant because it is the only time in Australia’s history that white men were arrested, charged and hanged for the massacre of Aborigines. Due to the fact that it was so thoroughly investigated and documented at the time, it provides irrefutable documentary evidence of not just this massacre but also of how commonplace such massacres were at the time.

Its unique place in our history has been acknowledged by the building of a Myall Creek Memorial at the site which was unveiled on 10th June 2000 and by the Federal Government adding the site to the National Heritage List in 2008. A commemorative service is held annually at the site each June long weekend.