Mowla Bluff MassacrePrint Page

The plaque commemorates the victims of the Mowla Bluff massacre.

The Mowla Bluff massacre was an incident involving the murder of a number of Indigenous Australians in the Kimberley region of Western Australia in 1916. Mowla Bluff is a cattle station near Derby.

John Watson, Aboriginal leader from the Kimberley, went to the Opera House yesterday to reflect on murder and history and to help build a future for his grandchildren. He took his son, Anthony, to watch a film documentary made by Mr Watson's granddaughter, Michelle Torres, about the killing of Aboriginal people on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in 1916. The Kimberley people claim that some of those killed were in chains.

The documentary, Whispering in Our Hearts, was shown as part of Message Sticks, a celebration of contemporary indigenous arts. The audience wanted to know how justice towards Aboriginal Australians had evolved since the days of the murders. "Well, our people can walk on the streets after 6pm and Aboriginal people can marry white people," Ms Torres said.

Rhoda Roberts, film compere, said: "The fact that we are sitting in the Opera House talking about this is evidence that we have moved forward, even if some of our politicians haven't moved as far."

The documentary shows tribal elders leading their Nyikina, Mangala and Karajarri people on a journey of healing and reconciliation at Mowla Bluff, where they believe their ancestors were massacred. They wanted to close a circle so that their grandchildren would not grow embittered by the things that had happened to their ancestors.

Aboriginal people believe that up to 12 men were killed and some women and children went missing. They say that some bodies were pushed into crevices and others burnt.

A police inquiry found that evidence would not support any charges. Since no murder had been committed, the missing men would turn up. The documentary includes a statement last year from the West Australian Police Commissioner, who doubted the substance of the allegations about Mowla Bluff. Yet the missing people never turned up. Ms Torres said: "The police inquiry was a whitewash."

Dr Mary Anne Jebb, a historian, says: "There were a number of killings in the Kimberley from the 1880s. It is very difficult to establish just how many, partly because police were not keen to provide details. But the communities know a lot of people who died at the hands of Europeans. Their version of history has not been made up in the last few years."

In any case, Aborigines built a stone memorial at Mowla Bluff station. They put a plaque on it: "The Mowla Bluff incident was closed and forgotten by the authorities but never forgotten by us ... This plaque is in memory of all our family members who had their lives taken away in the massacre."

Mr Watson's main concern is the future of his alcohol-free community at Jarlmadangah, east of Broome on the Fitzroy River, where the Australian and Aboriginal flags fly over the entrance. He believes that to secure his grandchildren's future everyone has to understand the past.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 2002.

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