Talk:Cape Grim massacre

A fact from Cape Grim massacre appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 5 January 2009, and was viewed approximately 5,857 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that the Cape Grim massacre, in which four shepherds killed up to thirty Tasmanian aborigines, was an escalation of a previous fight over women?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2009/January.

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Military conflict template and undue weight[edit]

Although the Cape Grim massacre did occur within the period known as the Black War (to which this article should refer), the Military Conflict template is inappropriate and should be deleted. That infobox is to be "used to summarize information about a particular military conflict (a battle, campaign, war, or group of related wars)". The article also over-emphasises the sceptics' viewpoint. There is certainly a place for Windschuttle's view, but it currently appears in both the "Background" and "Aftermath" sections (unnecessarily) as well as the more appropriate place, the "Historical skepticism" section. But even there its length raises issues of undue weight. I'll gather some sources and address this. The article's rating as B class is absurd (see the criteria) ; I'll downgrade this to C, which even then is on the generous side. BlackCab (TALK) 02:57, 13 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Ambush from cave[edit]

The "Aftermath" section opens with this statement: "Disasters continued for the north-west tribe, with an ambush in February 1828 by sealers, who shot one man dead and abducted seven women to Kangaroo Island. In March another ambush by sealers hiding in a cave caught 14 women swimming back to shore after catching shellfish and muttonbirds. The women were herded together, tied up and taken to Kangaroo Island for sexual servitude and slavery." The statement is sourced to Jan Roberts' Jack of Cape Grim. Ian McFarlane's Beyond Awakening book (2008, p.53) describes the same incident involving the assault from the cave, but says this happened in 1820, citing Plomley's Friendly Mission. Since the Cape Grim massacre took place in February 1828, I assume the dating of the two assaults referred to here has been confused; if those two events had taken place within weeks of the Cape Grim massacre, historians would certainly have linked them in their discussion of that event. None, as far as I'm aware, have. The cave incident is now in the "Background" section of the article, so I'll delete that paragraph from "Aftermath". BlackCab (TALK) 03:31, 9 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect citation for the Governor Arthur knowledge of the massacre[edit]

Looking at the reference Boyce, James (2010), Van Diemen's Land, pp 204-205. No mention of "News of the Cape Grim killings did not reach Governor George Arthur for almost two years." can be found. Lumplet Dog (talk) 09:44, 28 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]