| Narrative | Jim Chrisp of Auvergne Station was speared and killed by Aboriginal people on 10 December 1919. The Northern Territory Times and Gazette (January 17, 1920, p 5) reported that 'Crisp's [sic] death reported to the Darwin police during the week and Constable Turner proceeded out on Wednesday morning to make arrests. Blacks have always been considered dangerous out that way. Constable Turner will proceed to Katherine by rail and will procure horses there. The trip across country to the scene of the tragedy is over a hundred miles. The wet season being on all the rivers and creeks will be in flood. Constable Turner will probably have black trackers with him but will have very great difficulties in food and transport over rough country in running down the murderers. He is an expert bushman, however, and understands the native language, which should pull him through with safety'.
Ronnie Wavehill (cited in Charola & Meakins, p 45) recounts it in these terms: 'Yet another one was an ambush up at Nero Yard. From the run-gate at the Top, looking south, you can see a single hill that is shaped like a tank. It’s called Julakkurla. This hill is on the plain to the west of the others. This is where kartiya ambushed some ngumpin. And what for? Maybe for stealing cattle; that’s how they told it to be. Those ngumpin fled up the hill while the kartiya stationed below on the northern side, shot up the hill. The ngumpin were up there ducking down to miss the bullets. They had a big battle there. Spears were aimed and missed. Down there, the kartiya…hang on, kartiya and ngumpin together. Those kartiya had ngumpin with them – I don’t know where from – maybe Queensland or maybe from somewhere up here, ngumpin buggers living with the kartiya. Under fire, on ngumpin called out, ‘Come on, or else they’ll get away’. He hooked up his spear and aimed. Then he hooked up another spear. He broke the spears, making them good and short. Kurlumurru is what they call that kind of spear. (I’ve got one here somewhere). Anyway, they hooked up the short spears and sent them straight down – couldn’t miss! The first one aimed and hit a kartiya right in the belly as soon as he came out from his hiding place. One down! As soon as the other kartiya saw him get speared, they all went running away. Towards here, to the east is where they buried him. At Jurlakkula it happened the same way as at Warluk. They just massacred a whole lot of Aboriginal people. Is it right that kartiya come from another place and wipe out people on their own country? That kind of thing can’t be right! They were shooting people just for taking some cattle. Their punishment was to be shot dead. Everywhere they used to do this, here to the south and up on the rocky country. Ngumpin survived the shooting as Wulupulu. Hooker Creek, to the east, west and lower down on the Victoria River. There were alright there at Pirlimatjurru: Ngarinyman might have been safe, because horses couldn’t get through some of that country. But across the south, on higher country, Kartangarurru and Pirlingarna, ngumpin were just shot by kartiya'. |
