Site NameBirany Birany
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place NameBirany Birany aka Gunyangara
Language Group, Nation or PeopleYolngu – Dhalwangu and Gumatj people
Present State/TerritoryNT
Colony/State/Territory at the timeNT
Police DistrictDarwin
Latitude-12.817
Longitude136.477
DateBetween 1 Jan 1911 and 31 Dec 1913
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim Descriptions
Victims Killed15
Victims Killed NotesMore than 30 Aborignal men, women and children.
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsMounted Police
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportHorse
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedFirearm(s)
NarrativeFollowing the massacre at Gan Gan, Aboriginal people killed two colonists at Trial Bay. The attackers went to Trial Bay and then to Birany Birany where they massacred men, women and children again, though many escaped. He returned later to collect skulls. See also Gan Gan.
According to Galarrwuy Yunupingu, 'At Gan Gan these men on horseback performed their duties and killed an entire clan group – men, women and children. They shot them out and killed them in any way they could so that they could take the land. These men on horseback then rode to Birany Birany and killed many of our Yarrwidi Gumatj, the saltwater people who cared for the great ceremonies at Birany Birany. There are few places in our lives as sacred as Gan Gan – from its fresh waters all things come – and Birany Birany.' (Yunupingu, G 2016)
According to Bronwyn Wuyuwa Yunupingu, 'Again Harney came back. He went to Trial Bay, there our people killed two of his men. And after being at Trial Bay, he went to Biranybirany on the coast. There he and his men shot women gathering nuts But most people survived by running into the bush. And he went back, and the next year he came back for the skulls.' (Yunupingu, B p 15).
In the Preface to Bronwyn Wuyuwa Yunupingu A True, Bad Story Devlin wrote: 'The Bilayni or Bill Harney of this story is not to be confused with the man of the same name who was at one stage Protector of the Aborigines in the late 1940s and who later became an authority on Aboriginal matters'. Devlin said he had interviewed Birrikitji Gumana (the father of Gawirrin) who 'asserted without hesitation' that the Bilayni of the Gangan story 'came, murdered and was never seen again'. Using genealogical methods Devlin concluded the Gangan incident took place 'possibly a little before the war (1914-18)'. He therefore concluded that the Bilayni of the story was not the Bill Harney 'who was in the Gove area in 1946' (Yunupingu, B p i).
In the Preface to Bronwyn Wuyuwa Yunupingu A True, Bad Story Devlin wrote: 'The Bilayni or Bill Harney of this story is not to be confused with the man of the same name who was at one stage Protector of the Aborigines in the late 1940s and who later became an authority on Aboriginal matters'. Devlin said he had interviewed Birrikitji Gumana (the father of Gawirrin) who 'asserted without hesitation' that the Bilayni of the Gangan story 'came, murdered and was never seen again'. Using genealogical methods Devlin concluded the Gangan incident took place 'possibly a little before the war (1914-18)'. He therefore concluded that the Bilayni of the story was not the Bill Harney 'who was in the Gove area in 1946' (Yunupingu, B p i).
The events described indicate a high death toll, but that more escaped at Birany Birany, so the number of victims at Birany Birany may have been lower than at Gan Gan. Other massacres with recorded death tolls in this region and time, tend to average around 20 to 30. Warren Snowdon, when speaking of the death of Dr Gumana, said that, 'Dr Gumana spoke about a vengeance massacre of up to 30 of his people at Gangan when he was a young boy' (Snowdon, 2016). Galarrwuy Yunupingu said that 'an entire clan group' was killed and Bronwyn Wuyuwa Yunupingu indicated two groups were at the ceremony. The minimum size of a viable a clan group is about 20 (Mann, 2013 p 167-183) and they may be much larger. Since this was a large massacre, and there may have been two clan groups, 15 killed at Birany Birany is a conservative estimate.
SourcesYunupingu, B 1981 https://territorystories.nt.gov.au/10070/871805/0; Yunupingu, G 2016 https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2016/july/1467295200/galarrwuy-yunupingu/rom-watangu; NAA, Uncommon Lives, Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/first-australians/history/yolgnu-elder-dhakiyarr-wirrpanda-high-court-case; Warren Snowdon MHR, 2016 https://www.openaustralia.org.au/debate/?id=2016-11-23.156.2; Gumana, B biography https://www.aboriginal-bark-paintings.com/birrikidji-gumana/; Rothwell, N 2007; Yunupingu G 2017, p 54-55; Mann, B.A. 2013. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating**