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Archaeological dig to uncover Aboriginal massacre site. 

 August 19, 2009

Archaeologists will head to the East Kimberley next month in a bid to prove Aboriginal people were massacred at Sturt Creek.

 

Family members of those people killed in massacre have been calling for the expedition in a bid to uncover scientific evidence on the 1920s massacre.

 

There have been many oral accounts of the massacre, which recall Aboriginal people being herded into a sheep yard, chained to trees and shot.

 

Project Coordinator Dr Pam Smith said the Aboriginal people, before they were killed, were forced to excavate a well from solid rock. After their death they were incinerated and placed into the well.

 

“Following the massacre and the disposal of the bodies, the well was sealed with large blocks of stone,’’ she said.

 

“It is expected that this would have created a tomb in solid rock that would have provided excellent conditions for preservation.’’

 

 Dr Smith said the dig, at Sturt Creek in the south east Kimberley, would involve excavation of the well tomb, as well as surveying of the yard and areas around the well. Artefacts from surrounding outbuildings at the site would also be documented.

 

“This project is about collecting scientific evidence to prove that those oral stories that have been told for generations are true. That the pain of this massacre is real,’’ she said.

 

“Descendants of those killed in the massacre have requested this study because they want the people of Australia to know what happened at Sturt Creek.’’

 

The project, funded by AIATSIS and supported by Flinders University, will include significant involvement from Traditional Owners and the descendants of the people killed in the massacre. Five-days of field work will also be conducted from September 11-15.