| Site Name | Baladuna Waterhole |
| Aboriginal Place Name | Unclear |
| Language Group | Garrwa |
| Present State/Territory | NT |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | SA |
| Police District | Borroloola |
| Latitude | -17.045 |
| Longitude | 137.915 |
| Date | 15 May 1897 |
| Attack Time | Dawn |
| Victims | Aboriginal People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 15 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Pastoralist(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Opportunity |
| Weapons Used | Firearm(s) |
| Narrative | Roberts (2005, p 201) wrote: "In 1897, a large number of Garrwa people, among them Peter Garinjamaji and Illiburra ('Crooked Foot'), were gathered for a Kunabibi ceremony at Baladuna Waterhole on Settlement Creek. Many were shot when a large group of armed stockmen from Wollogorang led by the manager, Robert ('Bob') Shadforth, attacked the gathering and kidnapped women, including one of Illiburra's wives. Garinjamaji was shot in the shoulder by an infamous stockman of mixed descent named Yellow Paddy. The survivors fled into the rugged hills where Illiburra, a tall man regarded by Europeans as the local 'king', immediately planned a counter-attack, sending nightly scouting parties to watch the station. It was Shadforth he particularly wanted, which suggests he may have had other grievances against him." |
| Sources | Roberts, 2005, pp 58 and 201; Jane Morrison, Australian Frontier Conflicts, www.australianfrontierconflicts.com.au; Spearim, B and McVeigh, S ABC News, 19 December 2022, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-19/fred-leone-garrinjamaji-aboriginal-warrior-family-ties/101761576 (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
