Coniston Massacre - Aftermath

Aftermath

Constable Murray was quietly removed from his position and moved to Adelaide where he died in the 1960s. William Morton moved out of the area several years after the massacre. Bullfrog was never arrested and moved to Yuendumu where he died of old age in the 1970s.

Billy Stockman Tjapaltjarri, a prominent Papunya Tula painter, was a survivor of the massacre. His father was away hunting and survived while his mother had hidden him in a coolamon before being shot and killed. The strong oral history established after the massacre is recorded in paintings by some indigenous artists and the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre and Kaytetye refer to the period as The Killing Times. Similarly, other massacres that have occurred in the Ord River region have been recorded by Warmun artists such as Rover Thomas.