Show Notes
Over three hundred Frontier Wars were fought in Australia as the Indigenous people of this land tried valiantly to resist the invasion of British Colonialists. The Bathurst War was one such war, fought by the Wiradjuri nation in what is now known as Bathurst, led by the Aboriginal resistance leader Windradyne.
In the mid-1820s, the slow erosion of the Wiradjuri's sovereignty by the colonisers was rapidly increased by Sir Thomas Brisbane, who authorised a large number of land grants in the Wiradjuri nation. With this influx of white settlers, the Wiradjuri’s land was being degraded, their sacred sites were torn up, and their natural resources were vanishing. After a violent encounter with a potato farmer over a "misunderstanding" resulted in the deaths of several Wiradjuri people, one of the survivors, Windradyne, decided that enough was enough. The Wiradjuri formed a resistance movement and lead a series of guerrilla-style attacks against the invaders, which escalated until martial law was declared, giving the invaders legal sanction to hunt and kill Aboriginals.
The Bathurst War was only one of several hundred Frontier Wars fought by the Indigenous people of this land. And in many ways, these wars continue – sovereignty of this land has never been ceded, and the Indigenous people of Australia have been systematically slaughtered and made to watch as an invading force has stolen and destroyed their land. We applaud in movies like Star Wars when the Resistance fights off the evil Empire. So why are we so quick to sweep the Frontier Wars under the rug and pretend that our white ancestors were the good guys? (insert youknowwhy.gif here).
You can find out more about Wiradjuri resistance leader Windradyne here https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/631655491867/windradyne?fbclid=IwAR1yaEpos2JcYOM2joJUkC_3Hdyp-6_ZhB6VRhxgReHquBCV2MJLw-c6MQw
To find out more about the Frontier Wars and view the map, go here https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/04/the-killing-times-the-massacres-of-aboriginal-people-australia-must-confront?fbclid=IwAR1yaEpos2JcYOM2joJUkC_3Hdyp-6_ZhB6VRhxgReHquBCV2MJLw-c6MQw
Watch the video of Windradyne’s descendants marking the anniversary of the declaration of martial law here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jux_MKtfObw&t=326s&fbclid=IwAR1yaEpos2JcYOM2joJUkC_3Hdyp-6_ZhB6VRhxgReHquBCV2MJLw-c6MQw
We’ll probably never know the total death count of the Frontier Wars. Find out why that matters here http://www.maristfamily.com.au/resourcedownloads/why_indigenous_deaths_matters.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1yaEpos2JcYOM2joJUkC_3Hdyp-6_ZhB6VRhxgReHquBCV2MJLw-c6MQw Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Murder in the Land of Oz
As the final installment of our First Nation's themed season, we are talking about January 26th. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We are back after a (what turned into a much bigger than intended) break!
Whoops we covered another cult. Coming for ya, Jo Thornely. Chantelle McDougall, her six-year-old daughter Leela, her partner Simon Kadwill, and their housemate Tony Popic went missing in July of 2007. Simon was the leader of an internet-based doomsday cult, who believed that through death, a chosen few would ascend to a new plane of reality and usher in the new Aquarian age of existence. So you know, normal stuff. They told friends and family they were moving to Brazil, but their was no activity on their passports. Their disappearance left police stumped. Had they committed group suicide, or had they gone even further into isolation and completely segregated themselves from society? Our main sources this week were the coronial inquest completed in 2017. You know we love an inquest document! https://www.coronerscourt.wa.gov.au/_files/Felton,%20G;%20McDougall,%20C%20J%20and%20L;%20Popic,%20A%20K%20%20finding.pdf News articles about the case can be found here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-06/cult-leader-simon-kadwell-inquest-begins-into-missing-family/9205656 and here https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/cult-leader-simon-kadwell-inquest-hears-police-failed-to-investigate-report-of-dead-flesh-smell/news-story/b828be6ad139699e509c94ce62bc5292 The website for Simon’s “work” can be accessed via the Wayback Machine here https://web.archive.org/web/20071103141354/http://www.thenewcall.org/book_sdp.htm Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Okay, yes, every show and their dog (or podcast cat) have covered this case. But we just had to jump on the bandwagon. You may be familiar with the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard from the documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, or the hit TV show now on Hulu The Act, or just generally from having an internet connection at any point in time over the past four years. The internet is obsessed with this case, and for good reason – the horrific murder of Dee Dee Blanchard shocked the world, not because of the brutality of the crime – but because of the scale of the abuse that Dee Dee afflicted on Gypsy, her daughter, who she had raised to believe was sick with a whole medical textbook of illnesses. Once Dee Dee was dead, the truth came out – nothing was wrong with Gypsy. She was a victim of Munchausen by Proxy, and was horribly abused by the person who was meant to care for her most. EPISODE NOTES: Friends and neighbours looked at Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard as a perfect mother-daughter pair. Dee Dee was dedicated to her sick daughter, and Gypsy was in turn loving and devoted to her mother. When Dee Dee was murdered in 2015, people were horrified. Who was going to take care of poor Gypsy now? But as the truth came out, and Gypsy – along with her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn – was charged with her death, people were horrified to discover that Dee Dee was not what she seemed – and neither was Gypsy. Gypsy had every disease under the sun, from cancer to muscular dystrophy. She was confined to a wheelchair, had tubes all over her body, and had no hair and barely any teeth. She never properly attended school and was in and out of hospital constantly. But none of her ailments were real. Dee Dee was forcing Gypsy to be sick, lying to her about her real age, and physically and mentally abusing her to keep up the sickness routine, so that Dee Dee could keep reaping the benefits of having a sick child. While Gypsy and Nicholas Godejohn were both ultimately convicted of Dee Dee’s murder, many people believe that Gypsy acted in self-defence, and did what she had to do to escape from one of the most horrific situations of abuse conceivable. Read Michelle Dean's incredible longform article on the case here https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michelledean/dee-dee-wanted-her-daughter-to-be-sick-gypsy-wanted-her-mom More info about the case can be found here https://www.yourtango.com/2019322839/who-nick-godejohn-new-details-gypsy-roses-boyfriend-man-murdered-dee-dee-blanchard?fbclid=IwAR0c95is1g2caWJ1wSQX9CobuA8rK30l_Z5BDjfW4AAdf-CpbE2IlcVH7kA Information about the case and also Munchausen by Proxy can be found here https://www.yourtango.com/2019322870/what-munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy-story-gypsy-rose-blanchard?fbclid=IwAR28fu87X_aWdA9iOnfoLHevQ_bfIyiMeabBSbHo-T2YajOWh8ey3vd7YKI For some info on Hulu's stunning new show The Act (this is not a sponsored episode but also – sponsor us, Hulu?) head here https://www.marieclaire.com.au/the-act-tv?fbclid=IwAR2Ohe3PFiupYeS2rfTO3Ux9LoluGAiYbzWQMNMiQJz8RCg5iwvChcyUMHM