Myall Creek — When the Dream of White Impunity Was Shattered

Twenty-eight Aborigines were butchered. But it was not the first time.

Aboriginal family in front of their home outside Wilcannia, 1935–1937, photograph by Rev. Edward (“Ted”) Alexander Roberts, via Wikimedia Commons

Fifty years.

For fifty years, from 1788 to 1838, British settlers in Australia enjoyed complete impunity.

They could displace, murder, torture, exploit, and enslave Aboriginal men, women, and…