Site NameThe Slaughterhouse
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name
Language Group, Nation or PeopleTatungalung or Brabralung
Present State/TerritoryVIC
Colony/State/Territory at the timeVIC
Police DistrictGippsland
Latitude-37.443
Longitude148.214
DateBetween 1 Jan 1850 and 31 Dec 1850
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed15
Victims Killed Notes15 to 20 killed and bodies burned.
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsStockmen/Drover(s)
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportHorse
MotiveOpportunity
Weapons UsedFirearm(s)
Narrative'Kurnai people were surprised' by a party of stockmen 'while feasting on the banks of the lagoon' behind the rugged limestone outcrop called Pyramids. I [Macleod] killed a bullock for them and they ate until they were sick.' (MacLeod cited in Gardner, 2001, pp 76-78) Then stockmen and Aborigines from outside the region trapped them against a bluff, and 15-20 were shot and killed and the bodies 'thrown in the river at a spot where the river flows under the hill' (Armstrong cited in Gardner, 2001, p 80). It would appear that this massacre occurred before the Brodribb River massacre and was a closely guarded secret. Gippsland historian Peter Gardner suggests that it is possible that an Aboriginal youth, possibly Charlie Hammond, survived the massacre.
SourcesGardner, 2001, pp 76-82, 84-85; Broome, 2005, p 81. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating*