Kelso High School was chosen as the venue for a special Reconciliation Week event yesterday.
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Clash of Cultures was designed to re-examine the history of Bathurst – Australia’s first inland settlement.
Author Paul Stafford and Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum public programs officer Penny Packham co-ordinated a video conference to include Wiradjuri elders Gloria Rogers and Bill Allen, Charles Sturt University (CSU) indigenous political lecturer Dominic O’Sullivan and historian Sam Malloy who engaged with students across the Central West.
The event was funded through a NAIDOC public access grant, and facilitated by Paul Stafford.
The session was presented to reflect the points of view of the government, as well as convicts, free settlers and indigenous people, to assist students in understanding the implications of colonisation.
Mr Stafford put the project together with Ms Packham because he has a great interest in Australian history and has previously written a history book and novel. The duo are using the video conferencing as a way of gathering resources.
Around 12 country high schools took part in the video conference, including Kelso, Bathurst, Oberon and Gulgong high schools, with students invited to ask questions of the panel of experts.
Following the video hookup, the material will be edited, and the final footage uploaded to YouTube as a resource for schools across the state.
“Hopefully it will mark the start of a longer conversation on the impact of colonisation, with a view to Bathurst’s bicentenary,” Mr Stafford said.
“What started as friendly contact in 1815 later would turn into something else.
“It wasn’t until 1822 when land grants started encroaching on Wiradjuri territory that things went really bad.
“By 1824 there were some very ugly practices in place that would impact on the pattern of colonisation for the next hundred years.”
The project will be looking at what went wrong, and search for a way forward.
Mr Malloy said there would be a focus on Brucedale and the Suttor family’s relationship with Windradyne, and how that relationship was a good example of cultural best practice.
