THE showery weather matched the solemnity of the occasion as the community gathered on Monday to mark the anniversary of a dark chapter in the city's history.
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Rain spattered on a small forest of umbrellas by the Macquarie River, not far from the low level bridge, as a number of speakers commemorated the 199th anniversary of the declaration of martial law in Bathurst by Governor Thomas Brisbane.
"I think this morning, leading up to this, it was tears of sorrow coming down from our ancestors," Wiradyuri elder Dinawan Dyirribang said as the commemoration came to a close under leaden but newly dry skies.
"But now that we have done this ceremony here, they have wiped away those tears."
Dinawan said acknowledging the declaration of martial law and the Bathurst War was about truth-telling, healing and never forgetting what happened in the past so that it did not happen again.
"It is a part of our history of this town," he said.
"We can talk about all the good things about Bathurst, but we also need to talk about some of the dark side of things that happened through Bathurst's history and acknowledge that."
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David Suttor, of the historic "Brucedale" property at Peel, said his family's connection to that property stretches back to 1823.
Wiradyuri leader Windradyne is buried on "Brucedale".
"Where he's buried is obviously a significant site for the Wiradyuri and there are other burials on that site and that has been on the land since we took up the original land grant in 1823," Mr Suttor said.
"And, since then, we've had a relationship with the local Wiradyuri where they've had access to that grave site for whatever purpose has been needed.
"So, it wasn't all bad between all the settlers and the local Wiradyuri.
"My family has a proud tradition of not being part of the war and we couldn't actually give the support that the Wiradyuri probably asked for, because it would have been treason for my family to have supported them in the war, however, we did give sanctuary to them on the property and it's still that same way today.
"With the grave site being where it is, it's been acknowledged by my family in all times and still to today, where it's now protected under a conservation agreement with National Parks forever; that site will always be recognised."
Mr Suttor also said it was good to see so much more interest in Australia's Indigenous history these days.
The Bathurst branch of the National Trust's Iain McPherson said the organisation was deeply committed to being part of a community that tells the truth about what happened on the Bathurst plains.
"Our present and our future is built on our past and our future will be better if we have a true and proper foundation of memories and knowledge about our past," he said.
"It was a time of terrible battling between the colonial forces who were seeking to take the land of the Wiradyuri people and establish their idea of progress and, in the process, took Aboriginal land."
He said "the free labour of convicts and the stolen Aboriginal land was really the beginning of the whole pastoral enterprise" and "as we revel in the progress of our town, we have to remember where it's come from".
Monday afternoon's ceremony was preceded by a healing smoking ceremony.
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