The Koonchera Point massacre was an attack by colonial police on
Aboriginal Australians that took place at Mindiri Hole near Lake Howitt in far north
South Australia in the 1880s. Part of the
Australian frontier wars, sources indicate that it resulted in the deaths of between 200 and 500
Ngameni,
Yawarrawarrka,
Yandruwandha and Bugadji people. The event that led to the attack was the killing and eating of a
bullock by Aboriginal people. The massacre was unreported by the police, but one of the five survivors related what occurred to an
Arabana elder, and in 1971 he reported it to the linguist
Luise Hercus. The elder described the massacre as "the end of the Mindiri people".[1]
Elder, Bruce (2003). Blood on the Wattle: Massacres and Maltreatment of Aboriginal Australians since 1788 (3 ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: New Holland.
ISBN978-1-74110-008-2.
Evans, Raymond (1999). Fighting Words: Writing About Race. St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press.
ISBN0-7022-3109-6.
Headon, David (1988). ""The Coming of the Dingoes"—Black/White Interaction in the Literature of the Northern Territory". Connections: Essays on Black Literatures. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Aboriginal Studies Press.
ISBN978-0-85575-186-9.
Hercus, Luise; Sutton, Peter (1986). This Is What Happened: Historical Narratives by Aborigines. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
ISBN978-0-85575-144-9.