We have moments in our history that mark the beginning of violence that was meant to wipe out First Nations people, our way of life, community and culture.
When Captain Cook landed in Gamay, Botany Bay, it signified the beginning of colonial violence that would change things forever.
For Wiradjuri, the Bathurst Wars, and the subsequent expansion deeper into the Riverina, was one such time in history.
Today, Wiradjuri Elders in the region say that the war never ended and are calling for this hidden history to be brought into the mainstream view of history.
Martial law, resistance and the war that never ended
Martial law was declared across the Bathurst region 200 years ago, on August 14 1824, by the newly formed New South Wales legislative assembly.
Instated by Governor Thomas Brisbane, the declaration was a result of multiple failed attempts at expanding settlement, with colonisers having run-ins with local Wiradjuri resistance whilst trying to quarter and fence land for themselves and their livestock.
On 19 August 1824, The Sydney Gazette featured the proclamation written by Governor Brisbane.
“Now therefore, by Virtue of the Authority in me vested by His Majesty’s Royal Commission, I do declare, in Order to restore Tranquillity, MARTIAL LAW TO BE IN FORCE IN ALL THE COUNTRY WESTWARD OF MOUNT YORK,” it read.
The declaration ratified the killing of Wiradjuri people … innocent women, innocent babies and innocent children
It also included orders given to the army, that all soldiers were to assist in the suppressing of violence from the ‘natives’, which Governor Brisbane described as indiscriminate attacks on stock stations and the cruel murder of colonists.
Wiradjuri Yorta Yorta woman, Aunty Leanna Carr-Smith, said that whilst the declaration was officially made in 1824, the clearing of Wiradjuri had been going on for a lot longer.
“The declaration ratified the killing of Wiradjuri people – and I’m not just talking about men – I’m talking about innocent women, innocent babies and innocent children,” she told NITV.
“Bathurst is one huge massacre site, and nobody wants to talk about it. It’s a part of our hidden history.”
Whilst a ceasefire was called by the NSW Government some years later, many Wiradjuri, like Elder Uncle Bill Allen, a direct descendant of famed warrior Windradyne, say it never ended.
“We’re still fighting battles today, not with spears, but with their own legislation,” he told NITV.
“They they called a ceasefire, but they never signed off on it.
“To sign a treaty, is to say ‘these are the conditions of having an end to the war.’
“None of that took place.”
One side of truth-telling
To commemorate the suffering that martial law ushered in, Aunty Leanna set up the Dhuluny Project, a series of events coinciding with that dark anniversary.
Clan groups that make up Wiradjuri gathered in Bathurst to mark the conflict’s anniversary.
Held over one week, the project was a time to honour the resistance and survival of Wiradjuri, said Aunty Leanna.
“We’ve been told for a really long time by our old people about not forgetting them and forgetting the story of what happened here … when war was declared on our people and this whole town,” she said.
“It’s one huge, big, messy massacre site, and so is this continent.”
For Wiradjuri in Bathurst, they know and understand the history of violence well but say that it’s remained untold in the mainstream for too long and that it’s time for the community to reckon with it’s past.
“They wanted to forget all of that other stuff, so we know history was written by the white man and from that moment on, it was the forgotten history,” Aunty Leanna said.
Uncle Bill Allen reflected on how the history of Bathurst and the nation is taught in schools now.
When he was in school, shining an admirable light on the ‘pioneers’ of the expansion deeper into the country.
“People see it as a perfect transition of settlement, talking about the pioneers and explorers coming over the mountains.
“They just say the Aboriginal people went away. It’s like we never existed.”
Wiradjuri in the area say that a process of truth-telling is vital for us and our communities to heal, and Uncle Bill has suggested what that looks like, but it’s critical for everyone to engage.
“I’ve had a few people who are descendants of the colonists come here, and we’ve sat down and had a bit of a yarn, they’ve been open and we’ve been frank with each other.
“They’ve wanted to apologise, but they don’t need to apologise, it wasn’t you that did it cause you weren’t here.”
“But if we can just sit down and talk about it,” he said.
Uncle Bill says that until we acknowledge the things that happen in our past, we can’t move forward as a community and a nation.
“A saying I have is that we Aboriginal people, or Wiradjuri people, we carry the scars of what happened from all the damage that was done to us.”
“The whitefullas carry the guilt because of all the genocide that they committed, but won’t acknowledge that it was genocide that was being done,” said Uncle Bill.
