| Site Name | Waterloo Bay, Elliston, Eyre Peninsula |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Wirangu, Nauo |
| Present State/Territory | SA |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | SA |
| Police District | |
| Latitude | -33.645 |
| Longitude | 134.885 |
| Date | 17 May 1849 |
| Attack Time | |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 10 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Settler(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Firearm(s), Musket(s) |
| Narrative | In reprisal for Aboriginal killing of Captain James Rigby Beevor on 3 May 1849 and Anne Easton on 7 May 1849 it is possible that a settler posse chased a group of Wirangu and Nauo people to Waterloo Bay on 17 May and shot and killed at least 10 of them as they sought refuge in the bushes down the headland (Foster et al, 2001, p 53).
The 'massacre' is highly contested. Foster and Nettelbeck point out that 'there is no "direct" evidence...in the official documents from the period 1848-1850.' They also point out that: 'Similarly there is no "direct" evidence in the memoirs written by individuals who were directly involved in the events of 1848-1849' (Foster et al, 2001, p 50).
However, they do acknowledge that on 16 May 1849, '"there were three parties of volunteers out at that time", and that according to historian Greg Charter, "that if the massacre took place it occurred following the Beevor and Easten murders"' (Charter quoted in Foster et al, 2001, pp 53-54). The Aboriginal community in the region are in no doubt that the massacre took place. |
| Sources | Foster et.al, 2001, pp 44-73. See also: Burgoyne 2000, p 114; and Gage, 2017. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | * |
