Michael Puck, Maffra
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I IMAGINE some people in the community might be feeling shocked at the defacement of the Angus McMillan cairn in Bundalaguah.
While I will not condone wanton vandalism of public property, I think this incident shows that some other members of the community don’t have an appropriate place to have their views expressed.
And what might those views be?
Well for one, there are two recorded massacres in Maffra, just down the road.
There’s no acknowledgement there, or anywhere else in Gippsland that I’ve seen.
Am I missing out on history here?
We need to come to grips with the reality that massacres and dispossession happened – and not that long ago.
The Gippsland Times article mentioned some historians dispute McMillan’s involvement.
How many of them have sat with Indigenous Elders and heard their history, or is it discounted unexamined?
Horrific things happened all around Australia – that’s just the reality – and we need to acknowledge the horrific things that happened here.
I just think there’s better ways of doing that than spray painting a cairn.
