Spears taken by Captain Cook returned to Aboriginal owners
Four spears stolen from Kamay, now known as Botany Bay in Australia, by Captain James Cook and his crew have been returned to their traditional owners after more than 250 years.
Forty Kamay spears were recorded as being taken by the British in 1770, at the time of first contact between the local Gweagal people and the crew of the Endeavour. The four spears returned on Tuesday are the only ones of the original 40 that remain.
The spears have been held by Trinity College, Cambridge, since 1771, and have only appeared in Australia for museum exhibitions on loan from the university.
After a three-decade campaign by the Gweagal community and a formal request from the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Gujaga Foundation, the spears’ return was formalised on Tuesday with a ceremony in Cambridge.
Michael Ingrey, a Dharawal man of the La Perouse Aboriginal community, said the spears’ return was “a long time coming”.
“The emotions are mixed … a lot of the old people that started the campaign aren’t with us any more to see their hard work come to fruition,” he told ABC News Breakfast yesterday.
The spears will be housed in a new visitor centre at Kurnell, near where Cook and his crew landed at Kamay.
Sally Davies, the head of Trinity College, said it was right to return the spears: “[We’re] committed to reviewing the complex legacies of the British empire, not least in our collections.”