Gippsland settlers and the Kurnai dead.

ONE OF GIPPSLAND'S federal electorates is named "McMillan" after the European explorer who founded the province. A local reconciliation group recently asked the Electoral Commission to change the name of the electorate, alleging Angus McMillan was involved in massacres of Gippsland Aborigines. Known as the Kurnai, Gippsland Aborigines numbered about 4000 before European settlement--Gippsland was more densely populated than many other areas because of its fertile climate. The Kurnai were a relatively isolated group, hostile to outsiders both black and white. They became one of the best documented Aboriginal groups, due to the pioneering recording work of the anthropologist ...