A long-running archaeology project, funded by the Australian Research Council, has been looking into what happened to Aboriginal men who were recruited to the Queensland Native Mounted Police, their involvement in 'the frontier wars' and the resultant trauma that impacted their lives. Read more about this story in EurekaAlert! [...]
LEST WE FORGET THE FRONTIER WARS AND CONFLICTS The 16th Remembrance March will be held in Canberra, Australia on Anzac Day, 25 April 2026. Gather at 9.30am (or earlier) Cnr Anzac Parade and Constitution Avenue, Reid, Australian Capital Territory (or as otherwise advised). ALL WELCOME. [...]
Date: Sunday 19 April, 2026 Time: 11:00am–3.30pm Venue: Cataract Dam Picnic Ground, Appin Road, Appin, New South Wales This year marks 210 years since the Appin Massacre of 17 April 1816, a significant and painful moment in the history of the Dharawal people. The annual memorial ceremony will be [...]
Christ Sidoti, Henry Reynolds, Francesca Albanese and Lana Tatour, Settler Colonialism: what it can tell you about the Israel/Palestine Conflict, Association for the Promotion of International Law event held in Adelaide, South Australia on 5 March 2026 at the Norwood Concert Hall. The event was represented via Pearls and [...]
During the colonisation of Western Australia's Nullarbor area from the mid-1870s, pastoralists allegedly killed Mirning people. After more than 100 years, the burial of Mirning ancestors' remains, throws light on the violence of dispossession on the Nullarbor. Read more in Emily Smith's article: 'Burial of WA Mirning ancestors after [...]
The Northern Territory Police have re-opened a more than 90-year old cold case into the mysterious disappearance in November 1934 of Yolngu clan leader Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda (photo left). On 9 November 1934, the High Court overturned Dhakiyarr's conviction for the spearing murder of mounted constable Albert McColl. Following his [...]
Australia's 'oldest houses' are part of a Mithaka cultural landscape in Queensland's Channel Country that was entered on the National Heritage List on 5 December 2025. Read more from Douglas Smith, Indigenous Affairs reporter, The Guardian, Saturday 6 December 2025: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/05/australia-national-heritage-list-mithaka-aboriginal-site?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Details of the national heritage listing, updated on [...]
Historian Raymond Evans reviews Professor Henry Reynolds' new book, Looking From the North: Australian History from the Top Down, NewSouth, November 2025: https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/11/heat-terror-and-resistance-henry-reynolds-bold-new-book-takes-a-top-end-view-of-australian-history/?utm_source=Pearls+%26+Irritations&utm_campaign=61b37e7a62-Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0c6b037ecb-61b37e7a62-589123391 More from publishers NewSouth: 'Henry Reynolds’ ground-breaking re-examination of Australian colonisation from the north down. When acclaimed historian Henry Reynolds moved from Hobart to Townsville to [...]
Read more about the Logue diaries and a massacre coverup in the story by Sara Collard, Lena Allam and Ella Archibald-Binge, The Guardian online, 5 August 2025: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/05/the-descendants-traditional-owners-call-for-diaries-of-wa-settler-who-killed-aboriginal-people-to-be-released-in-full-ntwnfb See also the previous post on this website dated 4 August 2025.
Coded diary entries from an early colonist in the Geraldton area of Western Australia reveal killings of Yamatji Aboriginal people in retaliation for cattle stealing. Read more about these atrocities in Paul Gallagher's story in The Guardian, Morning Mail and related podcasts, 4 August 2025: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/04/morning-mail-monday-ntwnfb and [...]
Revelations from Victoria'a Yoorrook Justice Commission throws more light on the atrocities that occurred across Australia during the frontier period. Read more in the story by Nate Woodall and Kate Ashton on ABC News, 2 July 2025: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-02/yoorrook-justice-inquiry-key-findings-takeaways/105483168 You can access the Yoorrook Justice Commission here: https://www.yoorrook.org.au/history/victorias-history-to-now There is [...]
