'Emotional moment' as spears taken by Captain Cook are returned to Indigenous community

David Johnson has come to the university town of Cambridge to collect the Gweagal spears. (ABC News: Adrian Wilson)

Four spears stolen by Captain James Cook and his crew after he arrived at Botany Bay more than 250 years ago have been repatriated to their traditional owners.

The spears were among 40 recorded as being taken onto Captain Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, in 1770, at the time of first contact between those aboard and the Indigenous Gweagal people.

Known as the “Gweagal spears”, the handcrafted artefacts were presented to Cambridge University’s Trinity College in 1771 by Lord Sandwich, Britain’s naval chief at the time, along with other items from Captain Cook’s voyage across the Pacific.

They’ve been held at the college’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology since the early 20th century.

In March last year, the museum agreed to return them to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, including direct descendants of the Gweagal who crafted the spears 254 years ago.

David Johnson, 24, and Quaiden Williams Riley, 21, are descendants of Paddy Davis — a Dharawal man who was injured the day Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay.

They’ve come to Cambridge in the United Kingdom to bring the spears home. They’ll formally be handed back at a ceremony on Tuesday morning, local time.

“I feel like we’ve followed in the footsteps of our ancestors to finally reach the conclusion of getting these spears back,” Mr Williams Riley said.

“I feel proud we’ve accomplished something for our community and maybe this accomplishment will impact other communities as well.

“It’s definitely going to be an emotional moment for our community. My grandmother used to talk about it to my grandfather. It’s come full circle now that we’re finally here to bring them back home to our community.”

This repatriation is particularly significant because they mark the first items ever taken by the British from First Nations people in Australia and represent the first contact Captain Cook’s explorers had with Indigenous people.

Australia’s high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, has previously said authorities had worked “over time” to repatriate about 12,000 Indigenous items from Britain.

However, a project by the British Museum and backed by the Australian Research Council last year found there were at least 39,000 Indigenous artefacts in around 70 museums in the UK and Ireland.

Mr Johnson said Botany Bay was an important place for his people.

“Our story is very spiritual to us, it’s something we’ve been told from a young age … and as time goes by you understand … about the importance of that place in particular and it starts to grow on you as a responsibility to understand your connection to country,” he said.

“Continuing the stories but also continuing the practice of it is really important. With our country, stories tie in with the connection of doing so.

“Getting the spears back home, showing our community members how our old people from years ago made them, why they made and where they used them.”

But this journey started with Noeleen Timbery, chair of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council in 2017, when she first visited Trinity College in Cambridge.

She said she was “completely overwhelmed” to be repatriating the spears.

“There are a lot of emotions going on and it’s been a long journey but we’re really happy with how it’s gone through,” she said.

“I really hope that other communities look at what we’ve done and see they can do it too. I really hope that other museums are able to look at this process and see how beneficial it is to all sides.”

Gujaga Foundation director Ray Ingrey worked alongside Ms Timbery after managing the temporary loan of the spears for museum displays in Australia in 2015 and the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s landing in 2020.

“My old people lived in Sydney. I have an ancient and unbroken connection to Sydney and the Illawarra so growing up, I heard from my elders, particularly my great aunty who told us of the arrival of the Endeavour,” he said.

“She would talk about the conflict and also some of the artefacts and materials that were taken from Kamay or Botany Bay.”

Mr Ingrey’s uncle kicked off the process of repatriation in the late 1990s but is no longer here to see it finally happen.

“In our shared history, 1770, there was violence, and those spears were stolen. We are mature enough to open those conversations up and hopefully, this will continue not only about what Aboriginal people faced in the past but also assist other communities to make links to other cultural institutions that may have significant objects like the Gweagal spears,” Mr Ingrey said.

“You’ve got journals that talk about the violence on that day and the theft of those spears, this is the tangible evidence that this happened.”

The spears will be returned to Australia and cared for at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney until they can be showcased at a new visitor centre that’s being built on country at Kurnell.

For Mr Johnson and Mr Williams Riley, this moment represents a continuation of culture for future generations.

“What I get out of this whole experience is respect for our community, it shows that through trials and tribulations, we can persevere through anything and even to this day we’re resilient and we’re willing to right the wrongs of history, it’s something special”, Mr Williams Riley said.