Two mates from Goonellabah, Daniel John Peterson and Geoff Reid, are planning an epic walk from Ballina to Myall Creek, between Bingara and Warialda, to commemorate the massacre of at least 28 unarmed Aboriginal people there in June 1838.
Their walk is planned for May and June 2026, and will also visit other significant historic sites en route. They are currently seeking interested people to join them, and are also reaching out to Aboriginal Land Councils along the way.
Daniel John Peterson told The Echo the idea for the commemorative walk started with his friend Geoff Reid, who says he was driven by the failure of the Voice referendum. ‘There are some things, like the massacre sites, that go very much under the radar, and are swept under the carpet… this will hopefully keep the history in people’s minds.’
Myall Creek is relatively well-known, with a commemorative ceremony every year, but the walkers plan to visit a number of less famous massacre sites as well.
The men are still working out the exact route, but expect their journey to include East Ballina, Goanna Headland at Evans Head, Plains Station, Bluff Rock, and Deepwater, with a total distance approaching 500 km.
Big walk
‘We’re looking at maybe two or three or more weeks of walking on public roads,’ said Mr Peterson. ‘There’ll be a group of us walking, and it will culminate in the Myall Creek Commemoration, which will be the first weekend in June’.
He said attending the ceremony in person the last two years had been ‘a really a good eye opener’, with the event becoming increasingly popular since the unveiling of the memorial at Myall Creek in 2000.
‘Recently, we’ve had several hundred people attending from all over the country, including local and international visitors, official people, and dance groups. There’s been a big emphasis in recent years on getting school children from across the region involved, so they’ve become a core part of the ceremony.’
The Myall Creek commemoration event was famous in its early days for including the descendants of the victims and the descendants of the perpetrators coming together in a healing moment of reconciliation. Daniel John Peterson says this still happens.
Now they are looking for other walkers to join them in 2026, as well as potential support crew members.
Mr Peterson says they already have the support of the Myall Creek Memorial Committee, and are now seeking the support and consent of Aboriginal Land Councils and other Indigenous groups between Ballina and Myall Creek.
Calling grey nomads
The walk organisers are hoping to hook up with grey nomads and other people with appropriate vehicles who might be able to provide support and carry supplies, making it possible for more walkers to join the journey and travel further each day.
They are also seeking supporters with medical skills who could deal with any issues that might crop up along the way
Daniel John Peterson emphasises that the walk is not primarily about hiking, and is not an endurance event. ‘It’s very much a commemorative exercise. So that’s important to keep in mind.
‘One thing I like about it is the way that walking connects people with land and landscape, and that experience is as important part of appreciating, in a visceral sense, the history that we’re coming to terms with as a society.
‘Truth telling is the priority. But by walking a trail like this, it’s also engaging with landscape, and in doing so, I like to think we’re also engaging with ancestors.’
Passion for history
Mr Peterson was born in Casino, and has worked with Indigenous communities and studied Indigenous philosophies.
He got to know Geoff Reid when they were both part of the movement to protect the Northern Rivers from coal seam gas. They share a deep interest in local and Indigenous history.
Mr Reid has been busy recently with the Casino Environment Centre, but grew up in central Queensland, and remembers his family cattle station employing people from the Woorabinda community.
‘This was after the massacre time, but the survivors of those tribes were corralled into places like Woorabinda…
‘The Queensland government wouldn’t allow them to be paid. We could give them a roof over their head, for sleeping, food and tobacco, and that was it. We paid the government for them, but they’re still fighting for those wages,’ he said.
‘So my family’s inheritance and history depended on those people. My old man didn’t have much time for fathering, so they were actually more parents to us than he was, in a way.’
With both men working, the clock is ticking to get the walk organised and supporters in place by the middle of next year.
Learning process
Daniel John Peterson told The Echo that organising the whole thing is a learning process, as will be the walk itself, for everyone involved.
He says there will be additional events around the time of the big walk including a symposium at UNE in Armidale and a gallery event featuring Indigenous art from across the region at nearby Bingara.
The two men are in the process of setting up an online group, but at this stage are asking anyone who would like to learn more or get involved as a walker or supporter to contact them via email or phone.
Geoff Reid’s phone number is 0405 709 212. Daniel can be contacted via: [email protected]. They would love to connect with anyone who has a passion for Australian history, and a desire to learn more.
Their hope is that the Ballina to Myall Creek walk might become an annual event.
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