The Massacre Map

The Massacre Map

by Deleted user -
Number of replies: 0

I think the massacre map I mentioned in my answer for question one (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/the-killing-times) is an interesting data visualisation. 

It is an interactive map. 

I like the fact that it has a warning before people see the map so they have to click a button to proceed. This is because protocol dictates that we warn Indigenous people if they may see anything connected to dead ancestors or family members. So I like that they warned people beforehand. 

I also like that they used two shapes to distinguish between Indigenous people and Colonisers and that they also allowed you to filter it by perpertrator groups. That goes a long way to dispelling myths and rumours that more indigenous people attacked settlers than the other way around and it shows how much violence was carried out by the military, government and police and then settlers and stockmen who took the law into their own hands. It really busts the myths and ideas that all this violence was in reaction to dangers posed by indigenous people and that it was necessary.

It also allows added context when you hover each dot so you can see exact time, place, numbers and so on. 

What I don't like is that it isn't easy to quickly zoom in to a specific city or place. Zooming and scrolling can be done but it may have been faster to have preset maps of urban centers to switch to. 

I also think more information needs to be added but I do believe it is an ongoing project managed by a university team that verifies information.