The site of a brutal massacre of at least 14 Aboriginal men, women and children by British soldiers near Appin could be given legal protection with a listing on the state's heritage register.
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In the early hours of April 17, 1816, a military detachment led by Captain James Wallis heard a young child cry, alerting them to a group of Dharawal and Gundungurra people near the Cataract River, close to Broughton Pass.
This was one of three detachments that Governor Lachlan Macquarie had ordered to sweep across the colony and track down, capture or kill Aboriginal people after a series of deadly conflicts between Europeans and Aboriginal people who were resisting the invasion of their land.
The soldiers raided the encampment, shooting at the group and driving them off the cliffs of the gorge.
The official count of the dead stands at 14, but historians say the actual number of victims is likely to be much higher.
A Heritage NSW spokesperson confirmed the Appin massacre 'cultural landscape' was being investigated for inclusion on the NSW State Heritage Register, with submissions on the proposal open until the end of the month.
Places on the register are afforded legal recognition and protection because of their significance.
Aboriginal elder Uncle Ivan Wellington said he would like to see the area - which also encompassed burial grounds - added to the register.
"Every elder, every community will tell you they want these places kept safe," Uncle Ivan said, adding that these lands were sacred to Aboriginal people, no matter their mob or clan.
He said protecting important sites like this was important for reconciliation too.
"That's part of all Indigenous people's healing," Uncle Ivan said.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney said the news was "heartening".
"A big thank you to all those who have pushed for this," Ms Burney wrote on social media.
The area proposed for inclusion on the register contains several sites.
A statement of significance written as part of the proposal says the area likely has state significant historic values because of its connections to the massacre, earlier murders, the killing of Indigenous resistance warriors and a May 1816 proclamation by Governor Macquarie.
It is also significant as a place of sorrow for Aboriginal people, the statement says, and as a sacred place for Dharawal, Gundungarra and Dharug people.
"Unprecedented in terms of the numbers of recorded dead, the Appin Massacre marked an end to resistance warfare and was a distinctive turning point in the invasion of the Cumberland Plain, and its surrounds, by British colonists," the statement said.
"The massacre is also likely to have state significant historic values as an event that led to the 4 May 1816 Proclamation by Governor Macquarie and changes to colonial law and regulations... The proclamation signalled historic and disastrous changes to the treatment of First Nations people and their traditional way of life by the Colonial Government."
People are invited to make a submission about the possible inclusion of the Appin massacre site on the register to heritagemailbox@environment.nsw.gov.au by August 31.
For more information, visit the Heritage NSW website.
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