such woman was ever found 1850 – East Gippsland – 15-20 killed 1850 – Murrindal – 16 poisoned 1850 – Brodribb River – 15-20 killed In 1846 Gippsland squatter Henry Meyrick wrote in a letter home to his relatives in England: The blacks are very quiet here now, poor wretches. No wild beast of the forest was ever hunted down with such unsparing perseverance as they are. Men, women and children are shot whenever they can be met with … I have protested against it at every station I have been in Gippsland, in the strongest language, but these things are kept very secret as the penalty would certainly be hanging … For myself, if I caught a black actually killing my sheep, I would shoot him with as little remorse as I would a wild dog, but no consideration on earth would induce me to ride into a camp and fire on them indiscriminately, as is the custom whenever the smoke is seen. They [the Aborigines] will very shortly be extinct. It is impossible to say how many have been shot, but I am convinced that not less than 500 have been murdered altogether. In 1863 Rev Friedrich Hagenauer established Rahahyuck Mission on the banks of the Avon River near Lake Wellington to house the Gunaikurnai survivors from west and central Gippsland. The mission sought to discourage all tribal ritual and culture. The Mission closed in 1908 and the few remaining residents were moved to the Lake Tyers Mission. Native Title Agreement The Kurnai launched a native title claim in 1997 following on from the successful Mabo native title case of 1992. On 22 October 2010 the case was settled in the Federal Court under the Native Title Act (1993). The Court recognised the Gunaikurnai as traditional owners, and found that they held native title over much of Gippsland. Based on these findings the Victorian Government entered into an agreement with the Gunaikurnai on the same day, the first agreement reached under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act (2010) Maps of the area covered under the agreement and the native title determination shows that it does not fully cover the entire area thought to comprise the traditional lands of the Gunaikurnai, however most of the original nation is covered. Notable exclusions are to the west, including Wilsons Promontory, to the east of the Snowy River, and exclusions in the north,