Ceremony to mark 179th anniversary of Battle of Meewah

After dozens of his people were poisoned at Kilcoy, Multuggerah led an armed resistance to European colonisation in the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs that culminated in an infamous Table Top Mountain siege.

The Battle of Meewah sits alongside Ned Kelly’s last stand at Glenrowan and the Eureka Stockade as one of colonial Australia’s defining moments but for over hundreds years it disappeared from national consciousness.

Over the course of 1842-43 Multuggerah, angered by the poisoning of 60 Indigenous people at Kilcoy, led an alliance for First Nations people to resist early settlement and dispossession in the Lockyer Valley.

It culminated in the ambush of 18 squatters at the base of Table Top Mountain in September 1843 and long-running siege where Multuggerah and his warriors fought off an armed contingent of settlers.

Darby McCarthy was presented with a painting by Kim Walmsley in recognition of his involvement in creating the history book. Battle of One Tree Hill, honouring local Aboriginal Warrior, Multuggerah. One Tree Hill is now known as Table Top Mountain. September 2019

It took decades of activism from the Toowoomba Catholic Diocese Social Justice Commission and Indigenous campaigners led by the late Darby McCarthy to bring renewed focus to the battle.

They achieved this goal in 2019 when a book chronicling the history of the battle was published.

The Battle of Meewah will be commemorated tomorrow at a service at Picnic Point.

“While the actual battle may have been fought over two days the event symbolises more than five years of a fierce resistance campaign”, Social Justice Commission organiser Dr Mark Copland said.

Bill Bonner, Sarah Driscoll and Ken Bonner attend the plaque dedication to Multuggerah at Duggan Park on December 6, 2005

“As organisers we believe it is important that the courage, resilience, leadership and tactics of Multuggerah and his fellow fighters is recognised and remembered as part of the region’s local shared history.

“We are committed to truth telling and healing.”

The service will feature Indigenous elder Uncle Wayne Fossey as a guest speaker and children from several Toowoomba schools will present handmade Desert Pea mementos.

“The Desert Pea is a symbol of love and loss, of blood spilt on the soil of this country in frontier wars,” Dr Copland said.

The service runs from 12-2pm on Tuesday at the Tobruk Memorial Drive Lookout at Picnic Point.