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Home » Themes » Conflict » Indigenous
Mowla Bluff MassacrePrint Page 
Memorial plaque erected to commemorate 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. Responding to the brutality of the white station manager, some local men gave him a beating. In reprisal, a vigilante group which included officials and locals rounded up a large number of Aboriginal men, women and children who were then shot. The bodies were burnt to conceal the crime. One account states that three or four hundred people were killed and only three survived.
In 1918 Broome police investigated the story of the survivors . They found there was no evidence of a massacre and the witness statements were buried away in their records. Those files were found eighty years later and they were still in accordance with the local oral history.
Location
| Address: | Gee Gully-Mowla Bluff Road, Geegully Creek, Mowla Bluff , 6728 |
|---|---|
| State: | WA |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -18.688657 Long: 123.679262 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
|---|---|
| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | Indigenous |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Monday 30th October, 2000 |
|---|
THIS SITE ACKNOWLEDGES THE MASSACRE OF NYIKINA, MANGALA & KARRAJARRI PEOPLE IN 1916.
THE MASSACRE TOOK PLACE NEAR GEEGULLY CREEK CLOSE TO MOWLA BLUFF STATION AFTER A BEATING OF A PASTORALIST TOOK PLACE. IN 1918 A POLICE INQUIRY IN BROOME CONCEALED THE TRUTH ABOUT THE KILLINGS.
THE MOWLA BLUFF INCIDENT WAS CLOSED AND FORGOTTEN BY THE AUTHORITIES BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN BY US, AND IS SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN THE 1918 INQUIRY.
THIS PLAQUE IS IN MEMORY OF ALL OUR FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAD THEIR LIVES TAKEN AWAY IN THE MASSACRE.
Nyikina, Mangala & Karrajarri People
October 2000
