Australian Frontier Conflicts 1788-1940s

Welcome the the Australian Frontier Conflicts (1788-1940s) website. This website seeks to document the conflicts between European colonists and Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples.

WARNING: This website and links to other sources, contain images, names, or voices of deceased people in text, etchings, photographs, film, audio recordings, news media and printed material.

The information on this website is publicly available. There may be copyright restrictions on some material depicted or referred to on this website, for example, images, articles, books, films, videos still subject to copyright. Please check the Australian Copyright Council’s website at https://www.copyright.org.au for information about copyright in Australia and what publications are affected.

‘Mounted Police and Blacks’ by Godfrey Charles Mundy, 1852.
Depicts the killing of Aboriginals at Slaughterhouse Creek (Waterloo Creek), New South Wales by British troops in 1838. Australian War Memorial ART 50023, www.awm.gov.au/collection/ART50023

Timelines

The Timeline lists some known dates on which, and locations where, conflicts–from individual injuries and killings to large massacres and wars– occurred between colonists and First Peoples. The Timeline begins before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.

Maps

This Australian map, and State and Territory maps, show only some of the known Australian frontier conflict sites. For more conflicts that took place on Australian soil during the frontier period and even into the 20th century, please refer to the Australian Timeline and related State and Territory conflict lists. More sites will be added to these maps as time permits.

Warriors

Listed are some of the better-known Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander warriors who defended their lands in the 19th and early 20th centuries and examples of where you can find information about them. Warriors such as Bussamarai, Calyute, Windradyne and many more.

Memorials

Some memorials commemorate Aboriginal peoples who inhabited certain places before the arrival of colonists in 1788, but do not honour those who gave their lives in the defence of homelands from 1788 onwards. Examples of types of memorials follow.

Latest News

Note: In 2019 news items related to the Australian Frontier Wars website were posted on Facebook while the website was experiencing technical problems.

Mount Dispersion recognised as a Declared Aboriginal Place

jane2020-06-04T11:45:10+10:00June 4th, 2020|

Mount Dispersion, site of a massacre of Aboriginal people in 1836, has been recognised as a Declared Aboriginal Place. The gazettal, on 24 April 2020, of the site gives it legal recognition and protection as [...]

Myall Creek Memorial Ceremony 2020 cancelled, goes virtual

jane2020-05-15T18:06:06+10:00May 15th, 2020|

Owing to the corona virus pandemic, the 20th anniversary Myall Creek Memorial ceremony has been cancelled. However the Friends of Myall Creek are planning a virtual Annual Gathering. Read more from the Friends below. [...]

Endeavour Voyage: The Untold Stories of Cook and the First Australians

jane2020-05-15T17:33:21+10:00May 15th, 2020|

Although the National Museum of Australia is not open to the public due to the corona virus pandemic, anyone interested in the anniversary of the 250th voyage of HMS Endeavour and the untold stories [...]

1770 and all that from Inside Story

jane2020-04-29T17:07:18+10:00April 29th, 2020|

Hamish McDonald reports for Inside Story today, 29 April 2020, on the anniversary festival at Cook's landing place that had to be abandoned because of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the article at: https://insidestory.org.au/1770-and-all-that/ Replica [...]

Aboriginal leaders contest Dharawal words spoken as Cook landed

jane2020-04-29T16:17:56+10:00April 29th, 2020|

Today, 29 April 2020, is 250 years since Captain James Cook and crew from HMS Endeavour landed at Kundal, known in English as Kurnell, on Botany Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. But Aboriginal [...]

First Peoples’ accounts of Cook’s arrival differ from British history

jane2020-04-29T14:33:06+10:00April 29th, 2020|

Cook's arrival revisited A sketch of Cook and his party preparing to land at Kundal, Botany Bay, 29 April 2020 (Wikimedia) The 250th anniversary of the voyage by Captain [...]