Work on this area was welcomed on country by Uncle Ringo Terrick in 2022. After some delays, as of February 2026, the work is being carried on with the Victorian Indigenous Research Centre at the State Library of Victoria, with the full support of elders on the steering committee.

Notable Resistance Leaders

• Winberri (Woiwurrung, Kulin Nation)
• Jagga Jagga (Woiwurrung, Kulin Nation)
• Yabbee (Taungurung, Kulin Nation)
• Merriman (Yorta Yorta / Bangerang)
• Harlequin (Yorta Yorta / Bangerang)

Map of events involving resistance leaders.

Map of some important location and major events in this conflict.

Further Reading and Resources

• Clark, I. "Victoria: White Fellows No Good: Must Kill 'em" Chapter 6, pp167-189 in Perkins, R. et al Australian Wars Crows Nest Allen and Unwin, 2025
• Gapps, S. Uprising Sydney: NewSouth Publishing 2025
• Finding Merriman https://findingmerriman.com.au/merriman/merrimans-places/

Timeline Map >

The following lists references to some people involved in this conflict. More may be added in future.

This information has been collected from various sources, including the Colonial Frontier Massacres, 1788-1930 project (Ryan et al, 2025) and the South Australian Frontier and it's Legacies project (Foster et al), as well as ongoing research in primary sources. Finding and gathering this much information in millions of pages of colonial texts and other sources would not be possible without the use of computer automation. All information is checked but human and computer error can persist. Please let us know any corrections. Where possible, links are provided to sources to read the full text.

Country/Nation/People/Language indicates which Indigenous group people belonged to. Different people in different places prefer different terminology, and sometimes the 'belonging' relates to one of these not another. In many cases, due to colonists' limited knowledge, the archival record only uses generalised and sometimes racist terms (eg: 'blacks' or 'Murrimbidgee blacks'). In the absence of any other detail, although people travelled and visisted, we may infer the people involved were the people of the region the event occurred.

Listed are:

• Named Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people. This includes people involved in violent action, or in some other way involved, such as messengers. In many cases only the colonists' name (alias or aka - 'also known as') for the person is available.
• Colonists involved in the conflict. This includes people who were involved in violent actions such as massacres and shooting, or whose stock, runs or huts were raided, or similar. It may include people who played a significant role in the conflict in other ways, such as the Governor or regional administrators who ordered actions or established policies in relation to the conflict.
• Unnamed individuals or groups of people. This is as specific as possible. If a group is mentioned that is indicated and if an individual is mentioned, we also list that individual. It may be difficult to disentangle which individuals and groups in source texts are the same, and which different. Indigenous people go unnamed in colonial records of conflict encounters more commonly than colonists, but sometimes reporting also did not refer to low status workers and convicts by name, and referred to them by role, such as 'a stockman', 'a shepherd', or by their employer's name, such as, 'Mr Smith's men'.
• Auxilliaries. This is a general category for people aiding or working for one side or another, who might not be regarded as 'from' that side. Usually this means Indigenous people working for, or acting on behalf of colonists such as trackers, workers and Native Police. This can also apply to colonists working within and on behalf of Indigenous culture (such as William Buckley). The distinction is not always clear cut and some individuals acted on both sides of the conflict or changed sides. This may be voluntarily or by coercion.

Unnamed Aboriginal People

Unnamed Colonists