Cambridge to return spears seized from tribe by Captain Cook
University to repatriate artefacts to Australia after campaign by Aboriginal clan’s descendants
ABORIGINAL spears taken by Captain Cook from an Australian tribe are to be returned by Cambridge University.
James Cook acquired the artefacts in the 1770s from the Gweagal clan, which the British explorer encountered when he first landed at Australia, and they were donated to Trinity College.
The four spears will now be repatriated after a 20-year campaign by descendants of the clan.
Prof Nicholas Thomas, director of the university’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) where the spears have been held, said: “They are the first artefacts collected by any European from any part of Australia, that remain extant and documented.
“They reflect the beginnings of a history of misunderstanding and conflict.
“Their significance will be powerfully enhanced through return to the country.”
Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College, welcomed the decision to return the spears. She said: “Trinity is committed to better understanding the College’s history, and to addressing the complex legacies of the British Empire, not least in our collections. We believe that this is the right decision and I would like to acknowledge and thank all those involved.”
The then Lieutenant Cook of the HMS Endeavour made landfall at Botany Bay in 1770, and recorded in his log that some inhabitants hurled rocks and spears at his men, who in turn fired a warning shot, then proceeded to gather spears from a nearby encampment.
On Cook’s return to Britain, his Admiralty benefactor Lord Sandwich presented the spears to Trinity College, and they have been part of the collection since 1771. Since 1914, the four spears have been held by the MAA. The four are all that remain of the original 40 spears collected.
Cambridge agreed to return the spears after a fresh formal request in December, and they will be handed over to the community of La Perouse, based on Botany Bay near Sydney,
Noeleen Timbery, Local Aboriginal Land Council chairman, said: “We are proud to have worked with Trinity College and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to transfer the ownership of these enormously significant artefacts to the La Perouse Aboriginal community.”
It comes amid a shift in policy toward repatriation at Cambridge, and follows the 2022 decision to return the university’s large collection of Benin Bronze to Nigeria.
In Nigeria there are competing claims to the Bronzes from the Benin royal family and the Nigerian government.