The Bathurst War of Resistance
Between 1822 and 1824, the Bathurst region became the site of one of the most significant frontier conflicts in early colonial Australia. Tensions between British invaders and the Wiradyuri people escalated into open warfare as expanding pastoral settlement, which involved the theft of Wiradyuri lands and the dispossession and more often the murdering of Wiradyuri peoples, disrupted a sophisticated and deeply rooted cultural landscape. For Wiradyuri, identity and land were inseparable, expressed in the principle “Ngurambang Ngadhu, Ngurambang Nginhagu” (“I am Country, Country is me”). This worldview stood in stark contrast to the British concept of land ownership, which prioritised possession, exclusion, and agricultural exploitation.
The beginnings of conflict
As theft of land, dispossession of Wiradyuri people and the murders of Wiradyuri families encroached further into Wiradyuri Country, the invaders cleared land, introduced livestock, and depleted native food sources such as kangaroos and possums. This environmental disruption forced Wiradyuri communities to adapt, sometimes taking cattle to survive, actions invaders interpreted as theft rather than necessity.
Cultural misunderstandings often turned deadly. In early 1824, a confrontation at a farm led by Antonio Jose Rodrigues resulted in Wiradyuri people being shot while gathering food in accordance with their customary law. In response, Wiradyuri warriors enacted Giban, a form of cultural justice or payback, targeting those responsible while traditionally avoiding harm to women and children.
The War of Resistance
Violence intensified across the region. Sacred sites, such as bora grounds, were desecrated by invader construction. At places like Miilumarra and elsewhere, there are accounts of deliberate poisoning, where food was left to lure and kill unsuspecting Wiradyuri people. Massacres occurred in multiple locations, including at Bells Falls Gorge and in the Capertee Valley, where men, women, and children were killed indiscriminately. These events reflect a broader pattern of frontier violence, often carried out with little or no accountability.
The conflict was noted in colonial records, including reports in the Sydney Gazette, which acknowledged Wiradyuri grievances over the loss of traditional food sources.
Sydney Gazette, 8 January 1824
Advices from Bathurst say that the natives have been very troublesome in that country. Numbers of cattle have been killed. In justification of their conduct, the natives urge that the white men have driven away all the kangaroos and opossums, and the black men must now have beef!…
However, invader responses increasingly called for military intervention. Some colonists openly advocated extreme measures, including the eradication of Aboriginal people.
Such attitudes contributed to the Declaration of Martial Law on 14 August 1824 by Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane. Under this order, soldiers and invaders, as well as their convict slaves and servants were authorised to carry out operations against the Wiradyuri, leading to further widespread violence and loss of life, particularly among non-combatants.
I do declare, in Order to restore Tranquillity, MARTIAL LAW TO BE IN FORCE IN ALL THE COUNTRY WEST- WARD OF MOUNT YORK:— And all Soldiers are hereby ordered to assist; and obey their lawful Superiors in suppressing the Violence aforesaid; and all His Majesty’s subjects are also hereby called upon to assist the Magistrates in executing such Measures as any one or more of the said Magistrates shall direct to be taken for the same Purpose, by such Ways and Means as are expedient, so long as Martial Law shall last
Amid this turbulent period, the Wiradyuri Head Warrior, Windradyne, emerged as a central figure of resistance. Known for his leadership and strategic skill, Windradyne guided his people through both conflict and negotiation. Oral and written accounts describe his presence as commanding yet measured; in at least one instance, his group approached a settler’s hut but withdrew without violence following calm dialogue. His leadership exemplified both the strength and restraint embedded in Wiradyuri law.
The conflict took a devastating toll. Many Wiradyuri people were killed through shootings, poisonings, and organised attacks conducted under the protection of martial law. While colonial authorities later claimed that order had been restored, this “peace” came at immense human cost.
The End of Martial Law
Martial Law was repealed on 11 December, 1824. Seventeen days later Windradyne led a large group of Wiradyuri and neighbouring Fist Nations Warriors to the Governor’s annual feast for Aboriginal people at Parramatta, ‘to make a general peace.’
Augustus Earle, The Annual Meeting of the Native Tribes at Parramatta New south Wales - The governor meeting them.
As Stephen Gapps notes in his book ‘Gudyarra’ “The Wiradyuri received food and blankets and were allowed to return to their homelands unmolested. No treaty was signed, no agreement made. The colonists merely picked up from where they had left off and continued to steal more and more Wiradyuri Country for grazing their sheep and cattle.”
The Commemoration of the Declaration of Martial Law
Each year the community comes together to commemorate the Declaration of Martial Law and to share in truth telling. In 2024 Dhuluny (Dhu-loin):200 years of Wiradyuri Resistance was a series of events commemorating the 200-year anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law on 14 August 1824 and the surrounding frontier violence.
Today, the Bathurst region invites visitors not only to appreciate its landscapes of three rivers, Wambuul (Macquarie), Galari (Lachlan) and Marrambidya (Murrumbidgee), but also to engage with this layered history. The Wiradyuri people have never ceded sovereignty. Their language, culture and lore endure through resilience, pride and abiding commitment to Yindyamarra, respect, to do slowly, to be polite, to be gentle and to have honour.
Understanding this past is vital. It invites recognition of enduring Wiradyuri resilience and acknowledges the continuing importance of Country, culture, and community