Wonnerup massacre facts for kids

The Wonnerup massacre, also known as the Wonnerup "Minninup" massacre , was the killing of dozens of Waadandi Noongar people by European settlers in the vicinity of Wonnerup, Western Australia in February 1841. The massacre on Waadandi-Doonan land in the south-west of Western Australia took place after Gaywal/Gaywaar, a Waadandi Man, speared and killed George Layman, a settler at Wonnerup on 21 February 1841. The leaders of the punitive massacre were Layman's neighbours John Bussell and Captain John Molloy, resident magistrate of the district. The massacre resulted in a mass shooting of dozens of Wardandi Noongar people at Lake Minninup.

The event was later "systematically downplayed" by settlers.