Traditional law and indigenous resistance at Moreton Bay 1842-1855, Part II

Traditional law and indigenous resistance at Moreton Bay 1842-1855, Part II

In the period 1842-1855 interracial conflict at Moreton Bay involving the Aboriginal leader, Dundalli, was characterised by colonial authorities as criminal. This paper continues the argument presented in ANZLHS E-Journal 2005, that these events were in fact consistent with a pattern of Indigenous law being enacted by the traditional owners of south-east Queensland.

The 2005 paper discussed the evidence surrounding events up to 1846; Part II shows how intervention by the colonial criminal justice system in December 1846 escalated the conflict but also how customary law at Moreton Bay contained mechanisms to limit and contain on-going feuds. It will argue that Dundalli’s final capture may have been based on his assumption that internal Indigenous restitution had been settled. In the end the theatre of his own execution and gallows speech provides further evidence that a parallel system of justice was operating in the region which the colonial authorities refused to acknowledge.