Myall Creek Memorial 'a pathway forward' to acknowledge shared history

Each June the memorial marks a commemoration of the killing of 28 Aboriginal women, children and elderly by 11 stockmen in 1838.

The Myall Creek Memorial committee was formed in 2000 and the commemoration is closing in on a quarter-century of remembrance.

"The memorial started in 2000 and it is an opportunity for people both local, intrastate and interstate to come together and gather on the long weekend of June and remember a significant part of our shared history and reflect on that history in a meaningful way," co-chair of the committee Keith Munro said.

The strong crowd of attendees were greeted by a heavy fog, which lifted to reveal a picture perfect day for attendees to enjoy dance performances and a rousing talk by podcaster Boe Spearmin.

"It was a pretty amazing speech ... a lot of his speech was mapping out our colonial frontier violence and expansion that played out locally on Kamilaroi Country," Mr Munro said.

"But also understanding the massacre story across the width and breadth of this country and he explained that in a really accessible way.

"Truth telling in terms of our national identity needs to be done to celebrate the good parts of our history, but also understand and reflect on the not so good parts."

School groups from Canberra and Queensland took part in the memorial along with a strong presence of local students, who Mr Munro said form a key part of the memorial.

"I also want to acknowledge the contribution of the local schools to participate and attend - I think that's the real strength of the day really, having these different spaces being occupied by our community of both Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal members," he said.

"Myall Creek is a pathway forward in terms of acknowledging the truth telling as part of our national narrative - it's a place where people can come and understand on a deeper level the meaning of that and hopefully take away that as a conversation starter with their friends and family."

Two dance troupes also dazzled with some traditional performances that Mr Munro said were a celebration of the survival of Kamilaroi culture.

"The dance groups were sharing their language and their culture with visitors and making it a safe space for people to gather and remember and acknowledge the history of that space, but also where we are today."

Members of Mr Munro's family were among the founding members of the Myall Creek Memorial and for Mr Munro he said the growth of the memorial was key, that it was a safe space for people to learn and better understand the shared history since colonisation.

"We've put a lot of work into making sure that it's a site that is accessible to visitors, I want to thank all the members of our committee who put in hundreds of hours of volunteer time, but also the Sydney and Armidale Myall Creek Friends," Mr Munro said.

"I also want to thank Gwydir Shire Council that has played a part of its success since that launch in 2000 and the increased way in which we've been able to build a community of passionate people who feel the place and the memorial of that story is important to look after and respect."

This year's memorial was also supplemented by a University of New England symposium where Mr Spearmin was joined by experts to discuss the events and their ramifications.

Arts North West also hosted an exhibition and market on Saturday which was well attended and featured musicians from Tamworth who wowed the crowds.