Appin Massacre Remembered

Appin Massacre Remembered

The air was smoky with remembrance and reconciliation at this year’s Appin Massacre memorial.

“It’s about healing, healing the many people who’ve been hurt by what occurred”, said local Aboriginal elder, Uncle Ivan Wellington.

Campbelltown’s Mayor George Brticevic pointed out, “I’m a migrant child of the 70’s, and at school I learned a particular history. But it’s not until later in life that you realise that sometimes that history is another man’s prejudice.”

In 1816 NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie sanctioned the massacre of Dharawal men, women and children to “inflict terrible and exemplary punishments” upon Indigenous people living on the outskirts of Sydney.
On 17, April 1816, 14 Aboriginal people were reportedly killed but the real number of dead was estimated to be more.
The memorial is held annually by the Winga Myamly Reconciliation Group at Cataract Dam Picnic Area.
“There are hundreds of people here today, and it was so lovely watching them come down the hill especially the indigenous people dressed in their outfits and dancing. It makes you very proud to see them”, said Judith Hannan, Mayor of Wollondilly.