"He told me that the last time he'd been on a farm was when he was a little kid growing up near Yass," Mr Vincent recalled.

"The white farmer chased him off and yelled at him for being a little black kid on this white farm. It kind of hit home that [visits like] this didn't happen every day, for white farmers to invite Aboriginal people onto their land."

On Saturday, Mr Vincent welcomed more than 100 people onto the land his family has farmed since 1983 for a celebration to mark Gollion Farm's ochre quarry being declared just the 13th Aboriginal Place on private property in NSW.

The recognition is part of a NSW Office of Environment and Heritage program that protects significant sites on private land and allows Aboriginal custodians to host tours of them.

Aboriginal archaeologist Dave Johnston discovered the quarry in 2016 when he walked around the farm with his friend Mr Vincent.

Mr Johnston said it was hard to say how long the quarry had been used for, but it would have been thousands of years.

He said the ochre - a natural clay earth pigment - mined from the quarry could have been used in various Aboriginal ceremonies, including one to welcome babies to country. It might also have been used in initiation ceremonies at Ginninderra Falls, where pigment washed from a boy's skin into the water symbolised his transition to manhood.

Mr Johnston said the recognition was about bringing people from different cultures together to preserve pieces of history.

A similar celebration was held on a farm in Bungendore last month to mark the declaration of a stone axe quarry Mr Johnston found.

"It's a coming together and breaking down some of the falsehoods that having an Aboriginal site on your land means you're going to lose it," Mr Johnston said.

Mr Vincent agreed and said he would be able to keep farming his family's land while also allowing Aboriginal people to draw meaning from it.

"They don't have to be in opposition, those two things," he said. "There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of. This has only increased my knowledge of the land."

Ngunnawal elder Wally Bell said the declaration of the ochre quarry as an Aboriginal Place acknowledged Aboriginal people as the first inhabitants of the area.

He said it was uplifting to see so many people appreciate Aboriginal people's spiritual connection with the land by marking the occasion.

"It's acknowledging our practical uses of the land for thousands of years, and how we looked after the land," Mr Bell said.

"It's been here long for us and it's going to be here long after us. It's how you use that land while you're here. It's that connection with country that we're trying to open up to people who have no idea about Aboriginal culture."

Farmers in the Canberra region are now being encouraged to learn about the history of their properties.

Those interested in doing so can contact the Buru Ngunnawal Corporation to speak to local elders directly, or go through their local Aboriginal Land Council.

Depending on their location, farmers can also go through ACT Heritage or the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.