Unity of two powerful forces in Moree has led to a positive step in a long journey towards healing.
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A newly-found Waterloo/Slaughterhouse Creek Memorial Comittee made of local Kamilaroi people met with Moree Plains Shire Council last week.
Mayor Katrina Humphries and MPSC planning and community development director Angus Witherby discussed with the committee a possible memorial.
The memorial will acknowledge the Waterloo Creek Massacre (also known as Slaughterhouse Creek) that took place on January 26, 1838.
MPSC hope the memorial will be a step toward community healing and reconciliation, building on the significance of Sorry Day, Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week.
“The first step on this journey has been the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding and project goals between council and the newly-formed committee,” said Mr Witherby.
Memorandum of Understanding:
- A formal agreement between two or more parties. Companies and organizations can use MOUs to establish official partnerships. MOUs are not legally binding but they carry a degree of seriousness and mutual respect, stronger than a gentlemen's agreement.
The memorial will not only acknowledge those who were killed in the massacre, but also give a sense of peace for the descendants of those families involved.
“Over the coming months, there will be a lot of historical research done, along with discussion with Gamilaroi custodians about appropriate memorials and commemorative events.
“I encourage community members to contribute to this project through accounts of oral history,” said Mr Witherby.
The history of Aboriginal peoples and colonial settlement included a number of massacres.
The Waterloo Creek Massacre followed on from a series of events believed to have started around Manilla, before culminating in the massacre three weeks later at Waterloo Creek.
Stay tuned as the Moree Champion speaks with the local Kamilaroi Committee and finds out what this means for Moree.
