Australian Frontier Wars

The Australian frontier wars refers to a lengthy period in Australian history, beginning in the 1780s and extending by many accounts into the 1940s, characterized by ongoing hostilities between British colonists and Aboriginal Australians. The British pushed to colonize Australia, beginning about 1788. They showed little concern for the Aboriginal Australians who lived on the land and often used violence to force them to move. Aboriginal resistance and British reprisals continued back and forth for many generations.

During this bloody period, British forces and settlers were responsible for the deaths of about ten thousand Aboriginal people, many of whom died during some 416 massacres. Although many British colonists suffered and died as well, the British effort to control Australia could not be quelled. The European power ultimately claimed control over Australia, forever changing the history of that continent.

In the twenty-first century, hundreds of historians have begun focusing on this often-poorly documented era. Primarily, they honor the Aboriginal resistance and want them to be viewed as national war heroes. Historians also seek to document the suffering that Aboriginal populations experienced during this time.

Background

Humans have inhabited what is now Australia for tens of thousands of years. The earliest people mostly lived semi-nomadic existences, traveling widely across the broad lands, finding their sustenance through hunting, gathering, and fishing. These people, the ancestors of modern Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, developed many distinct cultures and ways of life, along with about 260 linguistic families, in the ensuing millennia. They lived basically isolated from foreign influences until the seventeenth century when Dutch and British ships began to survey Australia’s coastlines.

In 1770, British naval commander James Cook landed on the eastern coast of Australia. Although at that time an estimated 300,000 to 950,000 Aboriginal people lived there, the land was not developed by European standards, and Cook proclaimed it empty and open to colonial settlement. His arrival brought British interests in the continent that would last for hundreds of years and completely reshape its history and cultures. It would also spark a generations-long conflict between British colonizers and Aboriginal Australians that would be known collectively as the Australian frontier wars.

Overview

The Australian frontier wars varied in intensity and occurred over such a long period that their exact start and end dates are subject to some debate and differing interpretations. The conflicts considered frontier wars began with the first major arrival of leaders, soldiers, and prisoners from Britain in Botany Bay, Australia, in 1788. This initial mission was tasked with occupying the land and setting up a British-controlled colony. These intentions met with nearly immediate resistance from many groups of Aboriginal Australians.

From the earliest days of British arrival in Australia, both sides attacked each other. Some attacks involved just a few people, while others, mainly those perpetrated by the British, involved massacres that often resulted in the death of many innocent people. The conflicts occurred across much of the continent, often involving people within a few communities. The conflicts brought severe stress to Aboriginal peoples and cemented the power of the British.

In most of the conflicts, British forces had a notable technological advantage. They were largely equipped with muskets, the most powerful hand-held weapons in existence at the time. Muskets were not perfect weapons—they were prone to failing in rain or wet conditions, were notoriously slow to reload, and were not accurate at long distances. However, their noise was terrifyingly loud, and the projectiles were powerful and caused devastating and often mortal wounds. Aboriginal warriors, on the other hand, typically used traditional weapons such as spears, which required them to get close to their targets. Spears could also be deflected with light armor or heavy clothing.

Although they lacked modern technology, Aboriginal forces created their own advantages on the battlefield. They used knowledge of their land to gain an upper hand. They could find paths and natural resources easily. They also knew how to use fire and even wild animals to terrify settlers. In battle, they used guerilla tactics, meaning they fought in an irregular, unpredictable way, including surprise hit-and-run attacks and sabotage. This frustrated British units that were trained to fight in a much more standardized manner. In some instances, small bands of Aboriginal warriors could harry entire units of British forces. Several Aboriginal leaders, including Pemulwuy, Jandamarra, and Yagan, became famous for their exploits.

Some of the most widespread violence occurred in the island region of Tasmania. There, Aboriginal Australians fought against British soldiers and colonists in a lengthy conflict called the Black War (1804–1830). This conflict began with relatively small incitements and grew over time until, by the 1820s, it was characterized by large military actions. In 1830, British forces staged a final campaign, remembered as the Black Line, in which soldiers and settlers moved forward side by side through the territory, attacking and pushing back any Aboriginal people they discovered. This effort, while not entirely successful from the British perspective, showed the strength and determination of the colonial side and suggested they could not ultimately be evicted.

In 1837, a massacre occurred at Waterloo Creek in which a British officer and a group of colonists attacked and killed a group of Aboriginal warriors and non-combatants resting by a small pond. The following year, twelve colonists massacred a group of Aboriginal people at Myall Creek. Normally, colonial attacks on Aboriginal people were not seen as criminal by British leaders, but in this case, the offenders were charged with crimes and seven were hanged.

In 1849, in Queensland, British leaders raised a force of Aboriginal troopers who would be called the Native Police. These troops were sent, with British officers, to monitor and control local Aboriginal populations. Many members of the Native Police detested having to serve the British and had been coerced to do so by threats or the lure of much-needed money and food. Many Native Police officers deserted the British, and by the 1920s the organization had collapsed.

The frontier wars slowed significantly in the early 1920s, but violence and depredations continued in many areas. In 1928, British forces conducted the Coniston Massacre near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, in which they killed Aboriginal people gathered near a water hole. Records show that violence continued into the 1930s and even into the 1940s before finally calming, bringing an end to the generations-long conflict.

Bibliography

Connor, John. The Australian Frontier Wars, 1788–1838. University of New South Wales Press, 2005.

“Frontier Wars.” Queensland Government, 2023, www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/archives/collection/war/frontier-wars. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Kerkhove, Ray. “How They Fought: Indigenous Tactics and Weaponry of Australia’s Frontier Wars.” Boolarong Press, 2023.

Moran, Alexis. “What You Need to Know about the Frontier Wars.” SBS / NITV, 19 Sept. 2022, www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-frontier-wars/9m3uvkcmq. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Morrison, Jane. “Australian Frontier Conflicts: Timeline.” Australian Frontier Conflicts, 2022, australianfrontierconflicts.com.au/timelines/timeline-of-australian-frontier-conflicts/. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Smith, Aaron. “Calls Grow for Australia’s Frontier Wars to Be Remembered on Anzac Day.” The Guardian, 24 Apr. 2023, www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/24/calls-grow-for-australias-frontier-wars-to-be-remembered-on-anzac-day. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Spearim, Boe. “The Frontier Wars.” Common Ground, 31 Oct. 2022, www.commonground.org.au/article/the-frontier-wars. Accessed 7 June 2023.