Four spears stolen from Kamay, now known as Botany Bay in Sydney, by Captain James Cook, a then Lieutenant, and his crew, are to be returned to their traditional owners after more than 250 years.
The Kamay spears were among 40 recorded as being taken on to the HMB Endeavour in 1770, at the time of first contact between those aboard the ship and the local Gweagal people.
The spears have been in the hands of Cambridge University’s Trinity College since shortly after arriving in the UK in 1771.
The long spears were “cut down” so they could be transported on the ship to England.
Noeleen Timbery, the chairperson of the local La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, said she was eagerly awaiting their return after more than a decade of negotiations with Trinity College, the National Museum, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.
“I haven’t stopped smiling since I heard the news. To hear that they’re coming back and they’re coming back to stay is unimaginable,” she said from Bare Island, in La Perouse, not far from where the spears were originally taken.
The relationship has been the culmination of “patient” work between the local Aboriginal community and the college.
“It’s something that we’ve worked at and it’s something that we’ve been talking about for a really long time,” Timbery said.
“We place more importance in building the relationships with overseas institutions, with Australian-based institutions. So that we knew we were going to do it right, and it was going to be meaningful for everybody involved.”
Dharawal man and chair of the Gujaga Foundation, Ray Ingrey, said the repatriation of the spears was a welcome step towards recognising the shared history that started on the shores of Kamay.
“It’s important from a cultural standpoint,” he said.
“But for all Australians it’s important, because it’s that first point in our shared history of Australia as we know, today.”
Ingrey said the story of the spears was part of the wider stories told by generations of his elders, but that their return was bittersweet as many are not alive to see them come home.
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“Our old people always spoke about it. It wasn’t set by our generation, it was set by those old Dharawal people, and in particular women. I think they’d be looking down on us proud of what we’ve achieved today.”
The return of the spears back to country still needs to be formally approved in the UK by the Charity Commission to allow Trinity College to grant legal ownership to the La Perouse Aboriginal Land Council and the Gujaga Foundation after their request for repatriation.
The National Museum of Australia’s senior curator, Dr Ian Coates, said repatriation of cultural artefacts removed from their traditional owners and communities and stored in institutions abroad was a contentious issue.
“The National Museum of Australia in Canberra is often negotiating with others, [with] our partners overseas. But really, it’s up to those institutions as to what happens with those collections.
“In terms of material in other collections or by other institutions, it’s going to be up to those institutions.”
Once formal approval is given, the spears will return to Australia within the next few months to be cared for by institutions here. After further community consultation by the La Perouse community, they are expected to have a permanent home at the planned visitor centre to be built in Kurnell.