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William Dampier wrote in 1688 that Australia’s Indigenous people were ‘. . . the miserablest people in the world. . . [who differed] but little from brutes’.
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• Indigenous people were being shot at when they ventured onto European farms to get food.
(Date not specified) -
• Around 20 000 Indigenous people may have been killed during raids and frontier battles.
(Date not specified) -
Upon arrival 26 January 1788, Europeans regarded them as ‘noble savages’
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May 1789 smallpox killed half of Indigenous population around Port Jackson.
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1817, John Oxley described how two young Indigenous men reacted to the sight of his party: ‘They trembled excessively, and, if the expression may be used, were absolutely intoxicated with fear . . .’.
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1829 – E.S established a colony on Swan River.
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1831 – Nyungan shot by European settlers while stealing food.
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12 local stockmen were on the hunt around the New South Wales town of Inverell for Indigenous people they suspected had stolen cattle.
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June 1838 – Myall Creek Massacre
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3 November 1838 – Governor Gawler quoted that black men are miserable and cannot be happy unless they’re like men.
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• Europeans cut across kinship rules and traditional cultural practices. For instance, the people were forbidden to speak their language or to take part in Indigenous cultural events.
(Year not specified) -
1858 – Kurnai population had reduced from about 2000 to 80.
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Almost 165 years after being sent to England, Yagan’s head was returned to Australia for a proper burial. (Date not specified)
