Archers Crossing
Denver Kanowski gives some historical context for a local site
near his home town of Chinchilla on Queensland’s western downs.
The local Aboriginal tribe around Chinchilla is called Barrungum. Although there are very few people left today from the original tribe, the traditional land is still recognised.
By the 1870’s the Darling Downs in general was occupied by the invading Europeans and the traditional owners had been killed, dispossessed and scattered.
Documented reports usually consisted of those ‘nasty Aboriginals’ committing atrocities against shepherds (often Chinese) and killing (to eat) the livestock belonging to the colonists. The original Australians were not recognised as humans. Australia was, I believe, the only trophy of British Imperialism to ever be declared Terra Nullius – a land without people. With this perception as a bench mark the squatters would have put the Aboriginals in the same category as dingos and scrub ticks – pests that would be best eliminated.
An old friend of mine told me a story which was confided to him by the son of an enterprising squatter who occupied land around what is now called Archers Crossing. The father was complicit in the following event.
The Aboriginals in the area had been troublesome. The solution this time was a little more devious than the usual mass shooting. A beast (probably sick or injured) was slaughtered and a conciliatory gesture towards the local Clan was made to invite them to partake of the provided meat. The gullible Aboriginals took the offer in good faith. Little did they know that the beast had been laced with arsenic. Perhaps twenty local Custodians of our country were poisoned and died at Archers Crossing without a shot being fired.
There was no report on the crime. The Conspiracy of Silence ensured that yet another contemptible act went unnoticed.
While this story cannot be substantiated, I feel it should be recorded. I believe it has more substance than a lot of the fear-instilling lies that were projected on the people of Australia by the multinational media and their political friends in the lead up to the recent ‘Voice’ referendum.
Disclaimer: views represented in SOFiA articles are entirely the view of the respective authors and in no way represent an official SOFiA position. They are intended to stimulate thought, rather than present a final word on any topic.
Image: Map Data – Google Earth © 2023 Airbus
