| Site Name | Yeelanna, Eyre Peninsula |
| Aboriginal Place Name | |
| Language Group | Nawu |
| Present State/Territory | SA |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | SA |
| Police District | |
| Latitude | -34.1 |
| Longitude | 135.696 |
| Date | 1 May 1849 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 8 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Shepherd(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Foot |
| Motive | |
| Weapons Used | Poison |
| Narrative | In oral histories collected by Christina Smith one account relates that: In May 1849 a 'local shepherd, Patrick Dwyer, annoyed at Aboriginal people taking flour from his hut, laced some of his supply with arsenic. The flour disappeared and eight Aboriginal people became sick after eating it. Five of them died and three others became very ill and later died. Dwyer was arrested on suspicion of murder but released afterwards for lack of evidence.' He then disappeared to California (Foster et al, 2001, p 83). |
| Sources | Foster et al, 2001, p 83. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | ** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
