Date | August 14 – October 18, 1928 |
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Location | Coniston (Northern Territory) |
Coordinates | 22°02′35″S 132°29′28″E / 22.043°S 132.491°E |
Casualties | |
Offical records: At least 31 | |
Could be as high as 200 |
The Coniston massacre, which took place in the region around the Coniston cattle station in the territory of Central Australia (now the Northern Territory) from 14 August to 18 October 1928, was the last known officially sanctioned massacre of Indigenous Australians and one of the last events of the Australian frontier wars.
In a series of punitive expeditions led by Northern Territory Police constable William George Murray, people of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre, and Kaytetye groups were killed. The massacre occurred in response to the murder of dingo hunter Frederick (Fred) Brooks, killed by Aboriginal people in August 1928 at a place called Yukurru, also known as Brooks Soak. Official records at the time state that at least 31 people were killed, however analysis of existing documentation and Aboriginal oral histories reveal that the fatalities were likely to have been as high as 200.[1]