This digital story explores the topic of first contact and features the names, images and voices of people who are now deceased. It refers to historical events and violence that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors may find distressing, and includes historical documents that contain words and descriptions which are now considered offensive.   

The State Library of NSW respectfully acknowledges the trauma of this history and its ongoing impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.  

On 29 April 1770, the Gweagal people of Kamay (Botany Bay) discovered James Cook and his crew as they sailed into the bay and came ashore. The eight days that followed changed the course of Australia’s history. 250 years later the events of those eight days and their continuing impact are still being debated, contested, felt.

What are the facts and what are the fictions? Why do they matter for Australians today?

The following chapters invite you to explore different ways of thinking about the story and its legacy.

'Who was James Cook, and are we, 250 years after his landing, better served if we examine this legacy truthfully or if we maintain the myths?'

— Arrernte writer and social commentator Celeste Liddle, 2020

In putting together this project, special thanks to Dr Shayne Williams and the Simms, Timbery, Moffitt and Beller families for so generously sharing their history and experiences; the Gamay rangers Robert Cooley, Robert Russell, Bryce Liddell and Harley Lester for assisting with the location photography; and the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. 

'We discovered them before they even set foot on land!'

— senior Gweagal knowledge holder Shayne Williams, 2020

'My great uncle, he speaks about how Cook was coming up the coastline. Our Aboriginal tribes from the south were sending people with message sticks … they were being tracked all the way up ... '

… As James Cook and his crew left New Zealand they headed west and the first point of contact with Australia was a place called Point Hicks, which was obviously named after Lieutenant Hicks, like everything else that had been named after them, you know?

And from that point on, as he turned north and travelled along the coast northward, he noticed that there was columns of smoke all the way along the coastline. We call them [bundameri], smoke. And even Banks, who I think wrote in his own journal that it seems they were being tracked or followed and, in fact, that's what we was doing, we was actually tracking them all the way along the coastline …

People from the south would bring in these message sticks as well. As well as smoke signals there was message sticks being brought all along the coast as well. Or letter sticks, as my great uncle says, describes it, and to warn people that they was on their way. 

So the Aboriginal people here, the Gweagal people, knew they was on their way, they was waiting for them, they was prepared. So I can't see how the British discovered us when in fact we discovered them at Point Hicks and followed them all the way along the coast, you know?

… As James Cook and his crew left New Zealand they headed west and the first point of contact with Australia was a place called Point Hicks, which was obviously named after Lieutenant Hicks, like everything else that had been named after them, you know?

And from that point on, as he turned north and travelled along the coast northward, he noticed that there was columns of smoke all the way along the coastline. We call them [bundameri], smoke. And even Banks, who I think wrote in his own journal that it seems they were being tracked or followed and, in fact, that's what we was doing, we was actually tracking them all the way along the coastline …

People from the south would bring in these message sticks as well. As well as smoke signals there was message sticks being brought all along the coast as well. Or letter sticks, as my great uncle says, describes it, and to warn people that they was on their way. 

So the Aboriginal people here, the Gweagal people, knew they was on their way, they was waiting for them, they was prepared. So I can't see how the British discovered us when in fact we discovered them at Point Hicks and followed them all the way along the coast, you know?

The Endeavour first sighted the east coast of Australia near Point Hicks (in now Victoria) on Friday 20 April 1770.  The Library holds the original journals of four members of the company on board the Endeavour — botanist Joseph Banks, his servants James Roberts and Peter Briscoe, and Endeavour captain James Cook (as penned by his clerk Richard Orton). It also holds the published account of Endeavour artist Sydney Parkinson.

As they travelled along the coast, all make repeated reference to the fires they observed. 

‘In the PM we saw the smook of fire in several places a certain sign that the Country is inhabited’  

— journal of Endeavour captain James Cook, 21 April 1770 
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‘A small smoak arising from a very barren place directed our glasses that way and we soon saw about 10 people, who on our approach left the fire and retird to a little eminence where they could conveniently see the ship.’   

— journal of Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks, 28 April 1770 
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‘… at noon a smoak was seen a little way inland and in the Evening several more.’  — Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks

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‘In the PM  we saw the smook of fire in several places a certain sign that the Country is inhabited’ — Endeavour captain James Cook

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‘Moderate and Pleasant weather saw a smoke ashore … Saw a fire on shore in the Morning’ — James Roberts, servant of Joseph Banks

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‘The ship was too far from the shore to see much of it; a larger fire was however seen than any we have seen before.’— Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks 

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‘.. the ship too far from the land for much to be seen; 2 large fires however were seen and several smaller.’— Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks 

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'Large fires were lighted this morn about 10 O'Clock … All the fires were put out about 5 O'Clock.’ — Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks

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'Fires were seen during the day the same as yesterday but none so large.’— Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks

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‘… at noon off shore 4 or 5 miles saw several smokes.’ — Peter Briscoe, servant of Joseph Banks 

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‘A small smoak arising from a very barren place directed our glasses that way and we soon saw about 10 people, who on our approach left the fire and retird to a little emminence where they could conveniently see the ship’ — Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks

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Chart of New South Wales, or the east coast of New Holland (detail) by James Cook, engraving by W Whitchurch, 1773. Courtesy National Library of Australia 

‘So the Aboriginal people here, the Gweagal people, knew they were on their way, they were waiting for them, they were prepared. So I can't see how the British discovered us when in fact we discovered them at Point Hicks and followed them all the way along the coast. We discovered them before they even set foot on land!’   

— senior Gweagal knowledge holder Shayne Williams, 2020 

Aboriginal people have always had specific protocols that determine where people can travel and who they need to speak with before entering different parts of Country. These protocols were intended to ensure that Country was respected and that others knew who was moving, and to where.  

For most Aboriginal people it was unthinkable to simply ignore these well-established rules. For the Gweagal people in 1770, it must have been extremely frustrating to be unable to communicate these protocols in a way that the strangers on the Endeavour could understand. The fact that the strangers then escalated this encounter into bloodshed would have been a serious breach of protocol and law.  

Why did Gweagal people and the Endeavour crew see the events of 1770 differently?

In the last days of April 1770, the shores of Kamay became a symbolic and literal line in the sand as Gweagal people tried to stop strangers from the Endeavour from landing without consent. 

— senior Gweagal knowledge holder Shayne Williams, 2020

The Endeavour journals all give accounts of the landing at Kamay, but the account by Joseph Banks is the most detailed:   

‘After dinner the boats were mann’d and we set out from the ship intending to land at the place where we saw these people, hoping that as they regarded the ships coming in to the bay so little they would as little regard our landing. We were in this however mistaken, for as soon as we aproachd the rocks two of the men came down upon them, each armd with a lance of about 10 feet long ...

and a short stick which he seemd to handle as if it was a machine to throw the lance. They calld to us very loud in a harsh sounding Language of which neither us or Tupia understood a word, shaking their lances and menacing, in all appearance resolvd to dispute our landing to the utmost tho they were but two and we 30 or 40 at least. In this manner we parleyd with them for about a quarter of an hour, they waving to us to be gone, we again signing that we wanted water and that we meant them no harm. They remaind resolute so a musquet was fird over them, the Effect of which was that the Youngest of the two dropd a bundle of lances on the rock at the instant in which he heard the report; he however snatchd them up again and both renewd their threats and opposition. A Musquet loaded with small shot was now fird at the Eldest of the two who was about 40 yards from the boat; it struck him on the legs but he minded it very little so another was immediately fird at him; on this he ran up to the house about 100 yards distant and soon returnd with a sheild. In the mean time we had landed on the rock. He immediately threw a lance at us and the young man another which fell among the thickest of us but hurt nobody; 2 more musquets with small shot were then fird at them on which the Eldest threw one more lance and then ran away as did the other.’

— journal of Endeavour botanist Joseph Banks, 28 April 1770
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James Roberts, servant of Joseph Banks 

 … hoist’d out the Long boat the Captn. went on shore in the pinnace to where we had seen some Indians and hutts two of which appeared on landing armed with targettes and lances but upon 2 or 3 muskitts fired and one of them being wounded...

...with small shott they ran away into the woods the Captn. Mr. Banks Dr. Solander &c. with their servants and the detachment of Marines landed and search their huts … 

— journal of James Roberts, servant of Joseph Banks, 29 April 1770

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Sydney Parkinson, Endeavour artist

… we got into a fine bay, and some of our people went on shore on one side of it, where we saw some houses. On our approaching the shore, two men, with different kinds of weapons, came out and made towards us. Their countenance bespoke displeasure; they threatened us, and discovered hostile intentions, often crying to us, Warra warra wai.

We made signs to them to be peacable, and threw them some trinkets; but they kept aloof, and dared us to come on shore. We attempted to frighten them by firing off a gun loaded with small shot; but attempted it in vain. One of them repaired to a house immediately, and brought out a shield, of an oval figure, painted white in the middle, with two holes in it to see through, and also a wooden sword, and then they advanced boldly, gathering up stones as they came along, which they threw at us. After we had landed, they threw two of their lances at us; one of which fell between my feet. Our people fired again, and wounded one of them; at which they took the alarm and were very frantic and furious, shouting for assistance, calling Hala, hala, mea; that is,  (as we afterwards learned,) come hither. 

— journal of Endeavour artist Sydney Parkinson, 28 April 1770

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James Cook, Endeavour captain

… we stood into the bay and Anchor’d under the South shore about 2 Mile within the entrence in 6 fathoms water, the south point bearing SE  and the north point East, Saw as we came in on both points of the bay Several of the natives and afew hutts, Men women and children on the south shore abreast of the Ship to which place I went in the boats in hopes of speaking with them accompaned by Mr Banks Dr Solander and Tupia...

– as we approached the shore they all made off except two Men who seem'd resolved to oppose our landing — as soon as I saw this I orderd the boats to lay upon their oars in order to speake to them but this was to little purpose for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they said.  we then threw them some nails beeds &Ca a shore which they took up and seem'd not ill pleased in so much that I thout that they beckon'd to us to come a shore but in this we were mistaken for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us upon which I fired a musket between the two which had no other effect than to make them retire back where bundles of thier darts lay and one of them took up a stone and threw at us which caused my fireing a second Musquet load with small shott and altho' some of the shott struck the man yet it had no other effect than to make him lay hold of a Shield or target to defend himself emmediatly after this we landed which we had no sooner done than they throw'd two darts at us this obliged me to fire a third shott soon after which they both made off, but not in such haste but what we might have taken one, but Mr Banks being of opinion that the darts were poisoned made me cautious how I advanced into the woods  

— journal of Endeavour captain, Lt James Cook, 29 April 1770 

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Peter Briscoe, servant of Joseph Banks

… hoisted out the long boat the Capt. went on shore in the pinnace to where we had seen some Indians and hith two of which opposed our landing arm’d with Targets and Launces but upon 2 or 3 musketts being fir’d,...

... and some of them being wounded with small shott they run away into the woods the Captn. Mr. Banks Dr. Solander &c. with their servants and the detachment of Marines landed and search their huts …  

— journal of Peter Briscoe, servant of Joseph Banks, 29 April 1770

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Endeavour artist Sydney Parkinson sketched the two Gweagal men who resisted the arriving strangers. 

© British Library Board, Add 9345, f14v

Back in England, Parkinson's original sketch was later embellished by artists who had never seen Kamay or its inhabitants but instead drew on their classical training, stereotypes and familiar imagery.

This often-reproduced version shows the men in an awkward classical Greek pose. It was published with Parkinson’s account of the Endeavour voyage in 1773.

'The use of the word "native"' says Shayne Williams, 'suggests inferior being, whilst the phrase "advancing to combat" suggests aggression. Of course, it can be argued that the word “native” simply means aboriginal or indigenous, but it is a term that remains laden with a meaning that emphasises the dichotomy between superiority and inferiority.’

See An Indigenous Australian perspective on Cook’s arrival, British Library

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By the time Cook and his party reached Kamay, they were likely impatient to come ashore, after trying unsuccessfully several times to make landfall. Cook’s frustration at not being able to make contact or build friendly relations is evident in his journal, as his usual methods of intriguing the local people by offering ‘gifts’ such as beads and trinkets, or frightening them with warning shots had no effect at Kamay.    

Writing from near present-day Bulli: 

‘Being now not above 2 Miles from the Shore Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia, and myself put off in the Yawl, and pull'd in for the land to a place where we saw 4 or 5 of the Natives, who took to the Woods as we approached the Shore; which disappointed us in the expectation we had of getting a near View of them, if not to speak to them. But our disappointment was heightened when we found that we no where could effect a landing by reason of the great Surf which beat everywhere upon the shore …’ 

— journal of James Cook, 28 April 1770  
View in catalogue

And the following day from Kamay: 

‘As we approached the shore they all made off except two Men who seem'd resolved to oppose our landing — as soon as I saw this I orderd the boats to lay upon their oars in order to speake to them but this was to little purpose for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they said. We then threw them some nails beeds &Ca a shore which they took up and seem'd not ill pleased with in so much that I thout that they beckon'd to us to come a shore but in this we were mistaken for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us  upon which I fired a musket between the two …’  

— journal of James Cook, 29 April 1770 
View in catalogue

Town and Country Journal, 21 Dec 1872.

Courtesy National Library of Australia

There was no time for people to consider their arrival, you know, they was quite hasty, I think. They was keen to get ashore and collect plant species and so forth, above anything else, like, that was their agenda, you know, it was a scientific expedition at the end of the day. But as we know, despite being advised by the head of the admiralty not to interfere with people they came across, or even to sequester other people’s lands, they did so, you know?

... But welcoming is all about people paying a deep respect to the lands that they're entering on, you know? But the people who welcome them there as well, you know, it's about them respecting their presence to be on their land. So it's reciprocal. And we did have a political structure, so we were very diplomatic in our own way. So we would always send someone first to negotiate the entry of their group, so it would be like a diplomat arriving to negotiate that, and people reaching a decision as to whether they’re permitted to come here for a particular ceremony and what knowledge, new knowledge will they bring to that ceremony, what value will they add to it?

There was no time for people to consider their arrival, you know, they was quite hasty, I think. They was keen to get ashore and collect plant species and so forth, above anything else, like, that was their agenda, you know, it was a scientific expedition at the end of the day. But as we know, despite being advised by the head of the admiralty not to interfere with people they came across, or even to sequester other people’s lands, they did so, you know?

... But welcoming is all about people paying a deep respect to the lands that they're entering on, you know? But the people who welcome them there as well, you know, it's about them respecting their presence to be on their land. So it's reciprocal. And we did have a political structure, so we were very diplomatic in our own way. So we would always send someone first to negotiate the entry of their group, so it would be like a diplomat arriving to negotiate that, and people reaching a decision as to whether they’re permitted to come here for a particular ceremony and what knowledge, new knowledge will they bring to that ceremony, what value will they add to it?

As we know from journal accounts and Parkinson’s preliminary sketches the two men who stood bravely at the shore were wearing ochre body paint — but Aboriginal men did not simply wander around like this.

After tracking the Endeavour as it moved up the coast (and realising the strangers were planning to come ashore) these men attempted to follow cultural protocol. But this was misunderstood by the landing party, who seemingly could not fathom that simply entering another person’s Country could be such a profound act of disrespect.

The refusal of the strangers to treat Aboriginal people as equals cost them the opportunity to learn from the Gweagal people, and would later cost many Aboriginal people their lives.

What was the nature and consequence of contact between Gweagal people and the Endeavour crew?

To Arrernte writer and social commentator Celeste Liddle for her captions and commentary on the artworks.

Pirate? Hero? Both? Neither?  The way James Cook is remembered in Australia remains deeply contested.

The eight days he spent in Kamay are surrounded by countless myths and exaggerations, which have been compounded by an unwillingness to confront the theft and violence Cook inflicted on many First Nations people across the Pacific. The untarnished image of Cook as an explorer and skilled navigator has long been a seductive one, but for many he symbolises one of the darkest and most brutal parts of Australia’s history.  

Oil on canvas 

Collection National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Gilbee Bequest 1902; reproduced courtesy NGV  

The legacy of Cook’s time in Kamay has been aided over the years by the imagery which has accompanied it — usually constructed by the colonial powers in order to reinforce the image of a brave explorer leading Great Britain into the new world. Imagery is powerful and here we see artists use this power to question the mythology. Who was James Cook, and are we, 250 years after his landing, better served if we examine this legacy truthfully or if we maintain the myths? What sort of future can we look forward to thanks to the critical eye of the arts?

Daniel Boyd explores Cook’s travels as a pirate mission rather than a noble discovery, here featuring the captain himself, complete with his own eyepatch and a Union Jack with skull and crossbones on it. The image is a recreation of Emanuel Phillips Fox’s famous 1902 painting of Cook’s landing at Kamay, but instead showing the landing as a pillaging and the crew as plunderers. Boyd explains how he took the original piece of Australian federation propaganda and turned it back on itself. The original, Boyd says, had two Aboriginal men standing to warn the noble explorers away.

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

inkjet prints on paper, edition of 8
Collection of the National Library of Australia, purchased 2018; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy

© Michael Cook

The first thing that strikes you in this series is that the Captain Cook reimagined by artist Michael Cook is an Aboriginal man, appearing strong and stately. The black Cook appears in the wash of the ocean, possibly as if he’s bringing in a new wash of his own. 

Michael Cook’s use of the Union Jack is also intriguing. In the third image, it flaps regally from the side of the vast sailing ship yet in the final image, it lies tattered on the sand as it’s approached by a Tasmanian devil — an infamous eater of carrion, the decaying flesh of dead animals. Is the image of Cook’s ‘discovery’ about to be devoured once and for all? 

—Arrernte writer and social commentator Celeste Liddle

Each of these bottles, dating from the early years of the colony and perhaps used to hold rum, has been repurposed to depict a white ‘founding figure’. Cook, for example, comes with a series of fish hooks, perhaps referencing the seafoods caught and taken at Kamay. A number of the figures stand among human remains such as skulls and bones, highlighting their complicity in deaths, particularly of Aboriginal people. The epidemic of alcohol and its use by colonisers to rape, displace and kill Aboriginal people makes the delivery of these historical figures as booze bottles only too appropriate.

mixed media 
Reproduced courtesy Karla Dickens and Andrew Baker Art Dealer Brisbane

© Karla Dickens

Each of these bottles, dating from the early years of the colony and perhaps used to hold rum, has been repurposed to depict a white ‘founding figure’. Cook, for example, comes with a series of fish hooks, perhaps referencing the seafoods caught and taken at Kamay. A number of the figures stand among human remains such as skulls and bones, highlighting their complicity in deaths, particularly of Aboriginal people. The epidemic of alcohol and its use by colonisers to rape, displace and kill Aboriginal people makes the delivery of these historical figures as booze bottles only too appropriate.

mixed media 
Reproduced courtesy Karla Dickens and Andrew Baker Art Dealer Brisbane

© Karla Dickens

mixed media
Reproduced courtesy Karla Dickens and Andrew Baker Art Dealer Brisbane

© Karla Dickens

mixed media
Reproduced courtesy Karla Dickens and Andrew Baker Art Dealer Brisbane

© Karla Dickens

Despite its small scale, the first thing I notice in this piece by Namatjira is the vastness of the landscape. The vastness, and also the barrenness of the sand Cook stands on as he gazes towards his boat. Yet the boat seems unimpressive compared to what’s going on behind: a vision of what may be a Central Australian sunset. The Cook-like figure seems to be looking upon that scene in wonderment, as if for once he has discovered something so worthy that he’s unsure where to go next. 

In a number of interviews Namatjira highlights a childhood visit to a replica of the Endeavour as inspiring his fascination with Cook, thinking of him as an ‘ocean ghost’. Certainly, as he stares out to the peach-coloured horizon, Cook appears to be floating and unfocused. I’m left wondering where Namatjira may take Cook next.

acrylic on canvas 
Private collection; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy + Dianne Tanzer Gallery

© Vincent Namatjira/Copyright Agency, 2020

Despite its small scale, the first thing I notice in this piece by Namatjira is the vastness of the landscape. The vastness, and also the barrenness of the sand Cook stands on as he gazes towards his boat. Yet the boat seems unimpressive compared to what’s going on behind: a vision of what may be a Central Australian sunset. The Cook-like figure seems to be looking upon that scene in wonderment, as if for once he has discovered something so worthy that he’s unsure where to go next. 

In a number of interviews Namatjira highlights a childhood visit to a replica of the Endeavour as inspiring his fascination with Cook, thinking of him as an ‘ocean ghost’. Certainly, as he stares out to the peach-coloured horizon, Cook appears to be floating and unfocused. I’m left wondering where Namatjira may take Cook next.

acrylic on canvas 
Private collection; reproduced courtesy the artist and This Is No Fantasy + Dianne Tanzer Gallery

© Vincent Namatjira/Copyright Agency, 2020

It’s hard to miss the eyepatch of Daniel Boyd’s ‘Sir’; infamous pirates such as Blackbeard immediately spring to mind. In a jar next to his feet is the head of an Aboriginal warrior probably on its way back to Britain to inform a series of eugenic studies, the likes of which would eventually inform genocidal atrocities committed across the world.

This pirate-like figure is not James Cook, but the Endeavour botanist, Joseph Banks. To see him shown by Boyd as a murderer and thief rather than as an important man of knowledge confronts many of the stories we’ve been told as children of ‘discovery’ and trade. Boyd frequently depicts such celebrated explorers as having bare faces, highlighting the initial perception by Aboriginal people that they were women because they had no beards.

Collection Art Gallery of NSW, gift of Clinton Ng 2012, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program; reproduced courtesy the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney.

© Daniel Boyd
Photo AGNSW

It’s hard to miss the eyepatch of Daniel Boyd’s ‘Sir’; infamous pirates such as Blackbeard immediately spring to mind. In a jar next to his feet is the head of an Aboriginal warrior probably on its way back to Britain to inform a series of eugenic studies, the likes of which would eventually inform genocidal atrocities committed across the world.

This pirate-like figure is not James Cook, but the Endeavour botanist, Joseph Banks. To see him shown by Boyd as a murderer and thief rather than as an important man of knowledge confronts many of the stories we’ve been told as children of ‘discovery’ and trade. Boyd frequently depicts such celebrated explorers as having bare faces, highlighting the initial perception by Aboriginal people that they were women because they had no beards.

Collection Art Gallery of NSW, gift of Clinton Ng 2012, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program; reproduced courtesy the artist and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney.

© Daniel Boyd
Photo AGNSW

Jason Wing describes this work as an invitation — an invitation for audiences to take an active role in how they engage with the dual histories present in this country. ‘Australians today are still divided on issues surrounding our colonial past. Through this artwork I hope that audiences will begin to rethink the various narratives that exist within Australia’s history.’ 

At first glance, Wing’s captain looks every bit the stately depiction we’re used to. But by activating the UV (black) light, we see Cook revealed wearing a balaclava: ‘When I attended high school I was taught that Australia was discovered by Captain James Cook … [but] the truth is that Australia was stolen by armed robbery. History is often written and erased by the victors, so I decided to challenge the colonial history of Australia from an Aboriginal perspectives and simply tell the truth.’ 

(Quotes from Jason Wing’s artist statement, 2020)

Handpainted silkscreen print, UV light-sensitive ink, black light 
from ‘Ask us what we want, still’ (on-going project)  

Reproduced courtesy Jason Wing and Artereal Gallery, Sydney. 

© Jason Wing
Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri 

Jason Wing describes this work as an invitation — an invitation for audiences to take an active role in how they engage with the dual histories present in this country. ‘Australians today are still divided on issues surrounding our colonial past. Through this artwork I hope that audiences will begin to rethink the various narratives that exist within Australia’s history.’ 

At first glance, Wing’s captain looks every bit the stately depiction we’re used to. But by activating the UV (black) light, we see Cook revealed wearing a balaclava: ‘When I attended high school I was taught that Australia was discovered by Captain James Cook … [but] the truth is that Australia was stolen by armed robbery. History is often written and erased by the victors, so I decided to challenge the colonial history of Australia from an Aboriginal perspectives and simply tell the truth.’ 

(Quotes from Jason Wing’s artist statement, 2020)

Handpainted silkscreen print, UV light-sensitive ink, black light 
from ‘Ask us what we want, still’ (on-going project)  

Reproduced courtesy Jason Wing and Artereal Gallery, Sydney. 

© Jason Wing
Photo: Lorenzo Palmieri 

During the Endeavour voyage, Banks and his team of nine scientists, artists and servant-field assistants took more than 30,000 plant and 1000 animal specimens. They have found their way into the collections of museums and other institutions around the world, with most now in the Natural History Museum in London.

Taking specimens and objects from First Nations people was common, and though objects were sometimes traded the exchanges were rarely equitable. Many museums and libraries are full of these materials, including human remains and sacred items that were taken without consent (and sometimes through violent force).

The Gweagal people at Kamay showed no interest in the ‘gifts’ left by the Endeavour crew in the place of stolen spears, food and other objects. 

‘The Captn and Dr Solander … saw fires at several places and people who all ran away at their approach … leaving behind the shell fish which they were cooking; of this our gentlemen took the advantage, eating what they found and leaving beads, ribbands &c in return.’ 

— journal of Joseph Banks, 4 May 1770 
View in catalogue

‘... they had not so much as touch’d the things we had left in their Hutts on purpose for them to take away during our stay in the Harbour.’ 

— journal of James Cook, 5 May 1770 
View in catalogue

How do different groups of people think differently about the events of 1770?

The shores of Kamay have always been a place of significance and plenty. Teeming with plants and animals, they provided for the Gweagal people over hundreds of generations. This diversity and natural abundance were recognised by Banks and his team. They were curious about the plants, animals and landscapes they encountered, and during their eight-day stay, sketched, described and assembled an array of specimens. But their ways of describing and classifying the natural world could not make sense of the complex inter-relationship between land, living ecosystems and culture at the centre of Gweagal life. In their journals, the Endeavour crew compare the landscape to English parks and fields. They note the cabbage tree palms that had been cultivated by Gweagal people for generations, and are impressed at how clear the undergrowth is.

‘The trees were not very large and stood separate from each other without the least underwood; among them we could discern many cabbage trees but nothing else which we could call by name.’ 

— journal of Joseph Banks, 27 April 1770, page 243

We now recognise that Aboriginal farming and burning practices created and maintained these conditions, but the Endeavour crew assumed that Aboriginal people were too primitive or ignorant to be responsible for this scale of land management.

‘We made an excursion into the country which we found deversified with woods, Lawns and Marshes; the woods are free from under wood of every kind and the trees are at such a distance from one a nother that the whole Country or at least great part of it might be cultivated without being oblig’d to cut down a single tree …’ 

— journal of James Cook, 1 May 1770 
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Like many plants and animals in Aboriginal culture, the cabbage tree palm has many uses, as well as a deep spiritual and cultural role. Aboriginal knowledge systems don’t make a distinction between spirituality and science, and many dreaming stories weave in elements of both.

‘The cabbage tree palm is very important to us …’ 

So the cabbage tree palm is very important to us, you know? It was also important to the First Fleet, too, because they used to bark to make tiles for their roofs. But for us you can climb up to the top, obviously you need to cut grooves in the trunk to get up there, but you can take the heart of the centre of it and you can roast it and eat it. It needs to be treated first with water. You can also use the branches and leaves itself for your shelters, so in summertime rather than make a shelter that's waterproof you can just make one that gives you shade.

But it has a very deep spiritual connection to us in this way: in our culture, the Dharawal culture, when someone passes on, a big cabbage tree palm bends and your spirit crosses that, you know, to go to the other side.  

The cabbage tree palm forms a bridge that you cross over. So it has a deep spiritual connection to us in that way. We also have footprints engraved in the rocks, not here but in other parts of our country, and that's another way your spirit leaves, it follows those footprints and goes off.

So the cabbage tree palm is very important to us, you know? It was also important to the First Fleet, too, because they used to bark to make tiles for their roofs. But for us you can climb up to the top, obviously you need to cut grooves in the trunk to get up there, but you can take the heart of the centre of it and you can roast it and eat it. It needs to be treated first with water. You can also use the branches and leaves itself for your shelters, so in summertime rather than make a shelter that's waterproof you can just make one that gives you shade.

But it has a very deep spiritual connection to us in this way: in our culture, the Dharawal culture, when someone passes on, a big cabbage tree palm bends and your spirit crosses that, you know, to go to the other side.  

The cabbage tree palm forms a bridge that you cross over. So it has a deep spiritual connection to us in that way. We also have footprints engraved in the rocks, not here but in other parts of our country, and that's another way your spirit leaves, it follows those footprints and goes off.

Gweagal people soaked the heads of the cabbage tree palm in water and roasted them before eating. The branches and leaves were used to build shade and shelter (and later to patch up the roofs of early colonists’ homes).

Cook and Banks note in their journals that these trees had steps or ladders cut into them, which would have been used to climb up to harvest the edible heads or to gather seeds for cultivation. Gweagal people planted small clusters of trees for shade and harvesting food, although many European observers put this down to luck or the natural formation of the plants.

How was the Gweagal people’s knowledge of the plants and animals in Kamay different to the Europeans’ knowledge?

The Endeavour voyage was planned as a scientific expedition and carried a team of nine natural scientists and artists, including botanical artist Sydney Parkinson.

During the voyage, Parkinson made 674 outline drawings and 269 finished watercolour paintings. The drawings were made under the close supervision of naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who selected the specimens to be illustrated based on being new (to them) or noteworthy, and sat with him as he drew:

 ‘We sat till dark at the great table with the draughtsman [Parkinson] opposite and showed him in what way to make his drawings, ourselves made rapid descriptions of all the details … while the specimen was fresh.’

— Joseph Banks letter to Johan Alströmer, 1784

Natural History Museum London A3/137  

Juniper wattle (sometimes called ‘prickly moses’) comes into bloom in April, so the Endeavour crew would have seen it in flower. Low shrubs like this one were maintained through regular controlled burning to keep the undergrowth clear. This made it easier to move through the coastal scrub and woodland areas on foot, and minimised the risk of catastrophic natural bushfire. 

Acacia ulicifolia
A2/97

Juniper wattle (sometimes called ‘prickly moses’) comes into bloom in April, so the Endeavour crew would have seen it in flower. Low shrubs like this one were maintained through regular controlled burning to keep the undergrowth clear. This made it easier to move through the coastal scrub and woodland areas on foot, and minimised the risk of catastrophic natural bushfire. 

Acacia ulicifolia
A2/97

The seaberry saltbush is in fruit from summer till late autumn. Its sweet, fleshy berries were described by Solander as ‘green when young, dark green when older & a dark shining red when ripe’. The seeds and leaves of many saltbush plants can be ground and used when making damper, or to add a soft, salty flavour to other foods.

Rhagodia candeollana 
A7/299a

The seaberry saltbush is in fruit from summer till late autumn. Its sweet, fleshy berries were described by Solander as ‘green when young, dark green when older & a dark shining red when ripe’. The seeds and leaves of many saltbush plants can be ground and used when making damper, or to add a soft, salty flavour to other foods.

Rhagodia candeollana 
A7/299a

While Banks and Solander noted the beauty of this purple flowering plant, for Gweagal people it was also a food source. The flowers of the native violet, which grows in partly shaded areas of Kamay, can be eaten fresh from the plant. 

Viola hederacea 
A1/9a 

While Banks and Solander noted the beauty of this purple flowering plant, for Gweagal people it was also a food source. The flowers of the native violet, which grows in partly shaded areas of Kamay, can be eaten fresh from the plant. 

Viola hederacea 
A1/9a 

This iconic wildflower blooms all year round, but with a particular flourish in spring months, and its resilient seeds grow back quickly after a fire or controlled- burning. The flowers have spiritual and medicinal properties and feature in Dharawal dreaming stories. 

Actinotus helianthi
A3/162

This iconic wildflower blooms all year round, but with a particular flourish in spring months, and its resilient seeds grow back quickly after a fire or controlled- burning. The flowers have spiritual and medicinal properties and feature in Dharawal dreaming stories. 

Actinotus helianthi
A3/162

This striking bottlebrush contains a sweet nectar that can be sucked straight from the flower or used to make a sweet drink. The lemon-scented leaves from this variety make a particularly refreshing tea, which can be sweetened by adding nectar.  

Callistemon citrinus
A3/129

This striking bottlebrush contains a sweet nectar that can be sucked straight from the flower or used to make a sweet drink. The lemon-scented leaves from this variety make a particularly refreshing tea, which can be sweetened by adding nectar.  

Callistemon citrinus
A3/129

Samples and sketches of sarsaparilla plants were taken by Banks after he observed use of the plant by local Gweagal people, and noted the similarity to European varieties of sarsaparilla plant. Aboriginal people (and later colonists) would brew tea from the leaves of these different plants.

Hardenbergia violacea
A2/83

Samples and sketches of sarsaparilla plants were taken by Banks after he observed use of the plant by local Gweagal people, and noted the similarity to European varieties of sarsaparilla plant. Aboriginal people (and later colonists) would brew tea from the leaves of these different plants.

Hardenbergia violacea
A2/83

Cooking fish wrapped in the paperbark from melaleuca trees adds a unique smoky flavour.  

Melaleuca nodosa
A3/137

Cooking fish wrapped in the paperbark from melaleuca trees adds a unique smoky flavour.  

Melaleuca nodosa
A3/137

The oil in melaleuca plants has been used for thousands of years for its antiseptic properties. Commonly referred to as ‘tea tree oil’ it can be used to treat skin conditions or wounds. 

Melaleuca thymifolia 
A3/131

The oil in melaleuca plants has been used for thousands of years for its antiseptic properties. Commonly referred to as ‘tea tree oil’ it can be used to treat skin conditions or wounds. 

Melaleuca thymifolia 
A3/131

These plants were named by Europeans for their uniquely shaped flower, which in April 1770 would have been just starting to bloom. The small, sweet berries inside the flowers can be cooked or eaten fresh.  

Styphelia viridis
A5/219

These plants were named by Europeans for their uniquely shaped flower, which in April 1770 would have been just starting to bloom. The small, sweet berries inside the flowers can be cooked or eaten fresh.  

Styphelia viridis
A5/219

Parkinson botanical sketches courtesy of the Trustees of the National History Museum London

Parkinson, along with the other expedition artists Alexander Buchan and Herman Spöring, died during the voyage.

Over the next decade, Banks employed five artists to complete Parkinson’s unfinished drawings, as well as 18 engravers to make copper engravings for a planned publication. But the project might have been too costly even for Banks and he abandoned it in 1782. It took until the 1980s for all the illustrations to be published in colour — as the Banks’ Florilegium, a set of 34 volumes with 738 engravings. 

The original drawings and engraved copper plates are in the collection of the Natural History Museum London 

How was the Gweagal people’s knowledge of the plants and animals in Kamay different to the Endeavour scientists’ knowledge?

To the Simms, Beller and Timbery families for permission to include segments of their family oral histories in this chapter.  The histories were recorded in 2006–07 as part of the Kamay Botany Bay Oral History Project by NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.  Thanks also to NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service for their permission.

‘When different flowers are out you know what fish are running. The golden flowers on the wattle tell you that the bream are running. Mullet is associated with the tea tree which flowers around Easter. When you see whales up and down the coast it means that the snapper are running. This is taught to us by the Elders and passed on through generations. The bush is our atlas, our bible, history book, geography book and science book. Even the migration of the birds tell you things. You know what food is there because the birds are there to eat the berries.’

— Gweagal Elder Beryl Timbery Beller, 2006

Courtesy Trustees of the Natural History Museum London, 50.(1:46)

Background: journal of Peter Briscoe, 4 May 1770. View in catalogue

Cook first named Kamay ‘Stingerray Bay’ but later crossed this out and wrote ‘Botany Bay’. In both names, he was recognising the area’s diversity of plants and animals: this is one of the few common understandings between the strangers and the Gweagal people from around the bay.

Rock carvings around Sydney’s coastline show different kinds of animal and sea life. Most have since been built over, eroded or forgotten, but many were sketched by non-Aboriginal people in the late 1890s. This whale with its calf is one of several carvings from the north side of Kamay copied by William Dugald Campbell in 1891, when he was working as a surveyor. View in catalogue

The rocks and cliffs of Kamay were home to many caves and rocky overhangs that the Gweagal people used for shelter, cooking and socialising. In the cooler months, they would light large fires under the overhangs to cook shellfish and seasonal seafood, warming the surrounding rock as an added benefit. Large deposits of shells, fish bones and implements (known as middens) can be found throughout Kamay, providing evidence of where the Gweagal people lived and the foods they ate.

*/

‘Those middens can tell a story … [a midden] is like walking into a library’

— Gweagal Elder Beryl Timbery Beller, 2006

Moving inland from the shoreline at Kamay, through the scrub and coastal woodlands, you get a sense of the diversity of plants and animals that once thrived there. In the eight days they spent at Kamay, Banks and Solander described and collected more than 135 specimens. The crew ate ‘very well’ during their stay.

*/

‘The country is very level and fertile … and although it was the beginning of winter when we arrived, everything seemed in perfection. There is a variety of flowering shrubs  … [and we] saw a great number of birds of a beautiful plumage; among which were two sorts of parroquets, and a beautiful loriquet: we shot a few of them, which we made into a pie, and they ate very well. We also met with a black bird, very much like our crow, and shot some of them too, which also tasted agreeably.’

— journal of Sydney Parkinson, April 1770

Acrylic on canvas 

Artbank collection; reproduced courtesy the artist and Artbank © Vincent Namatjira/Copyright Agency, 2020

There’s a delightfully wicked humour apparent at the idea of Cook actually sharing a meal and a conversation with an Aboriginal man from the desert. When Cook landed, his exchange with Aboriginal people was limited and, at times, violent. Cook didn’t even really imagine there being Aboriginal people living inland where artist Vincent Namatjira’s ancestors resided – while Cook noted the presence of Aboriginal people along the eastern seaboard, he still somehow managed to take possession of an ‘empty land’ for the Crown. 

In this painting, Namatjira has broken down this historical Captain Cook. Instead of Cook bearing witness to Aboriginal people but not seeing them, he is actively engaging. Instead of Aboriginal people being forced to share place and space with Cook, he is instead sharing the bounty of his travels with them – a beautiful feast of shellfish, wine and exotic fruits. Interestingly, though Cook is depicted in full formal uniform, he appears to be engaging in a somewhat casual manner – his guest is depicted using cutlery while Cook embraces his shoulders and cracks the shell off a prawn using his hand.

As a viewer, we’re left wondering what may have happened had Cook landed on these shores and had such exchanges with Aboriginal people where the hand of friendship was extended. In a way, Namatjira has, in fact, brought forth a show of humanity from the seafarer. Cook appears to have been civilised by his Aboriginal guest rather than the other way around as white history has had us believe for 250 years. 

There is a slight sting in the tail of this friendly scene however: the exchange of knowledge appears to be one way. Although Cook has the bounty of his travels to share with his guest, he doesn’t seem to understand that his guest may, in turn, have some stories and knowledges to share with him. Desert foods, for example, are absent from the fine spread despite the fact that these are foods which had sustained populations for millennia. Cook’s official position and worldliness is reinforced via his uniform whereas Namatjira’s attire, apart from his beanie, is rather blank and not descriptive of his own position. 

Perhaps eight days was not enough time for Cook to have learnt anything from the Aboriginal inhabitants of the landmass he claimed for the King beyond him noting in his journals that Aboriginal people appeared happier and more egalitarian than people in Europe. Cook’s Dinner Party depicts a friendly yet unequal exchange where we see a number of possibilities go unrealised and we are left wondering what could have been had Cook not been bound by his own colonial arrogance. 

— Arrernte writer and social commentator Celeste Liddle, 2020

— senior Gweagal knowledge holder Shayne Williams, 2020

*/

'The culture and every aspect of the culture is very important to be handed down, especially in this area … because this is where it first got hit ... this was the place, Botany Bay was the place. La Perouse and the people of La Perouse provided not only for a lot of Aboriginal people but for a lot of non-Aboriginal people. And that is through by providing seafood and things like that, tucker and knowledge of the land and sea and the land itself … Aboriginal people provided for a lot of people for a lot of years.' 

– Wallangang (now) Elder Glen Timbery, 2007 

How did the Gweagal people and the Endeavour crew differ in their understandings of food, language and nature?

Cook and his crew were not the first European visitors to this continent. Since the early 1600s, various explorers and fortune hunters had reached Australia’s west coast. Among them was English explorer William Dampier, who spent almost two months on Bardi Jawi country (in the present-day Kimberley region) in 1688.

as charted by the Dutch and other European explorers since the early 1600s. From A New Voyage Round the World (fifth edition) by William Dampier, 1703. View in catalogue
 

Dampier’s accounts of the Bardi people rarely revealed any kind of mutual interaction. Like other expedition accounts of First Nations peoples at the time, they painted Aboriginal people as violent, primitive and inferior. This helped reinforce the European idea that they were more capable of managing the land and more deserving of its natural wealth — an idea that formed the basis of terra nullius (no one’s land) which claimed that the continent was uninhabited.

View in catalogue

When it was first published in 1697, William Dampier’s journal was a sensation. It fuelled the imagination of an entire generation of would-be pirates and explorers and was well known to Cook and Banks, who had a copy with them on the Endeavour.

Dampier’s maps and descriptions of the west coast sparked great interest, but his biased and limited descriptions of Aboriginal people would have reinforced Cook’s assumption that non-European peoples and cultures were savage or simple.

From A New Voyage Round the World (1698 edition) by William Dampier. View in catalogue

Tupaia was a talented sailor, navigator and artist from the Pacific Island of Rai’atea who joined the Endeavour expedition after it sailed through Tahiti in 1769. He was recruited to act as a mediator and translator, but he was also a highly skilled navigator and explorer. Tupaia’s extensive knowledge of the South Pacific islands built on that of his ancestors, who had been exploring the Pacific for hundreds of years, and this knowledge was indispensable to the British. 

‘He [Tupaia] was a Shrewd Sensible, Ingenious Man, but proud and obstinate’  

— journal of James Cook, 26 December 1770

This chart is a copy created by Cook based on an original document by Tupaia. Unlike many European maps of the region, Tupaia’s included detailed information about the islands, currents and environment.

The chart is a copy created by Cook based on an original by Tupaia.

© British Library Board, Add MS 21593c

In this sketch Tupaia depicts Gweagal people in their nawi (canoes). His observations of the Gweagal people were informed by his own cultural background, which had more in common with Aboriginal culture than British. Drawn from life and completed by the artist himself, Tupaia’s sketch is natural and sympathetic. This is the earliest known outsider depiction of Gweagal people, and one of the few historical illustrations of Aboriginal people to be created by a non-European person.

© British Library Board, Add MS 15508, f 10 

Although Tupaia was derided by many of Cook’s crew, he was retained through the financial support of Joseph Banks. He died in Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in November 1770, from an illness contracted on board the Endeavour.  

It would be more than 200 years before his contributions to the Endeavour journey would be properly recognised.

How did prior knowledge influence the behaviour of the British towards the Gweagal people?

The protests against the Cook bicentenary celebrations in 1970 were photographed by the weekly Tribune newspaper, a long-time supporter of Aboriginal rights. The images are part of a larger Tribune photo-negative archive donated to the Library in 1992, and now fully digitised for online access. They are reproduced here courtesy of the SEARCH Foundation.

‘For most of us, it was an ill wind that brought the first Endeavour; let us hope that those that bring Endeavour II will prove to be the winds of change.’ 

— John Newfong, general secretary of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, April 1970

Fifty years ago, in 1970, for the 200th anniversary of the Endeavour’s visit to Australia’s east coast, celebrations and commemorations were held across the nation. These culminated in a re-enactment on 29 April, the day the ship entered Kamay (Botany Bay) and sent a landing party ashore.

But for Indigenous Australians, the anniversary was not cause for celebration. Indigenous leaders urged their communities to boycott all the events and declared 29 April a ‘Day of Mourning’. Wearing red headbands to symbolise the blood shed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since the arrival of the British in 1770, they rallied the evening before, and spent the night in silent vigil. During the re-enactment at Kurnell the following afternoon, they gathered to lay wreaths on the opposite side of the bay.

Many well-known and emerging Indigenous activists were involved in the protest. Together with protests held in other state capital cities, it brought considerable attention to the burgeoning Aboriginal land rights movement and the campaign for improved conditions for First Nations people and their communities. It also compelled a re-examination of Australian history that was critical of the continuing legacy of colonisation.

‘It is time Aborigines dug their heels in and said:
“This is my land — shift me if you dare” …
If you remain silent, it means you want to see us disappear from the face of the earth. But we are going to fight for our future.’  

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), Queensland activist and poet

On the evening of 28 April 1970, Indigenous leaders from NSW, Queensland and Victoria rallied at Sydney’s Lower Town Hall to voice their resistance to the official celebrations that would take place at Kurnell the following day and to call for radical change to the treatment and rights of Indigenous Australians.

The public meeting was organised by the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). Formed in 1958, this was the first national Indigenous rights organisation, and had been highly successful in its campaign supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the 1967 referendum on Aboriginal rights.

‘It is time Aborigines dug their heels in and said: “This is my land — shift me if you dare” … If you remain silent, it means you want to see us disappear from the face of the earth. But we are going to fight for our future.’  

Queensland activist and poet Kath Walker was Noonuccal woman of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). Her 1964 poetry collection We Are Going was the first book published by an Aboriginal woman. In 1970 she was the Queensland state secretary of FCAATSI.  

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘It is time Aborigines dug their heels in and said: “This is my land — shift me if you dare” … If you remain silent, it means you want to see us disappear from the face of the earth. But we are going to fight for our future.’  

Queensland activist and poet Kath Walker was Noonuccal woman of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). Her 1964 poetry collection We Are Going was the first book published by an Aboriginal woman. In 1970 she was the Queensland state secretary of FCAATSI.  

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘Cook was directly responsible for the subjugation and suppression of the Aboriginal People of Australia, whereas, the White Australian Establishment is directly responsible for the exploitation and destruction of a unique race, and their culture, today.’  

Paul Coe is a Wiradjuri man originally from Cowra, NSW. In 1970 he was an art student and later helped establish and chaired the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern. He went on to study law and became a barrister.  

Quote 13 April 1970, from Alan Roberts Sydney University Broadside collection, HF 2014/33 

‘Cook was directly responsible for the subjugation and suppression of the Aboriginal People of Australia, whereas, the White Australian Establishment is directly responsible for the exploitation and destruction of a unique race, and their culture, today.’  

Paul Coe is a Wiradjuri man originally from Cowra, NSW. In 1970 he was an art student and later helped establish and chaired the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern. He went on to study law and became a barrister.  

Quote 13 April 1970, from Alan Roberts Sydney University Broadside collection, HF 2014/33 

‘Low Wages. No wages. Atrophy and ill health. A landless people in our fathers’ land! For the last 200 years, this, unfortunately, has been the “badge of all our tribe”.’ 

John Newfong was Australia’s first mainstream Indigenous journalist. A Ngugi man, originally from Brisbane. He moved to Sydney when offered a job with the Sydney Morning Herald. At the beginning of 1970 he was elected general secretary of FCAATSI. 

Quote from Day of Mourning protest program, April 1970 

‘Low Wages. No wages. Atrophy and ill health. A landless people in our fathers’ land! For the last 200 years, this, unfortunately, has been the “badge of all our tribe”.’ 

John Newfong was Australia’s first mainstream Indigenous journalist. A Ngugi man, originally from Brisbane. He moved to Sydney when offered a job with the Sydney Morning Herald. At the beginning of 1970 he was elected general secretary of FCAATSI. 

Quote from Day of Mourning protest program, April 1970 

‘We object to efforts to make us a cheap carbon copy of the whites. Is their civilisation really better than ours was before the white man came?’ 

A Kamilaroi man originally from Caroona, near Quirindi, NSW, Bert Groves was a founding member of FCAATSI.  He served as president of the Aborigines Progressive Association and also worked for the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs, established in 1964 to support Aboriginal people living in Sydney. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘We object to efforts to make us a cheap carbon copy of the whites. Is their civilisation really better than ours was before the white man came?’ 

A Kamilaroi man originally from Caroona, near Quirindi, NSW, Bert Groves was a founding member of FCAATSI.  He served as president of the Aborigines Progressive Association and also worked for the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs, established in 1964 to support Aboriginal people living in Sydney. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘How can we endorse them when today the Aboriginal child mortality rate is one of the highest in the world? After 200 years of European Settlement, the Aboriginal has been left very demoralised.’ 

Frank Roberts was a Bundjalung man from Cabbage Tree Island, Richmond River, NSW. He served on the Anglican Board of Missions between 1968 and 1974. 

Quote from Tribune, 11 February 1970 

‘How can we endorse them when today the Aboriginal child mortality rate is one of the highest in the world? After 200 years of European Settlement, the Aboriginal has been left very demoralised.’ 

Frank Roberts was a Bundjalung man from Cabbage Tree Island, Richmond River, NSW. He served on the Anglican Board of Missions between 1968 and 1974. 

Quote from Tribune, 11 February 1970 

A trained nurse and Meriam woman from the Torres Strait Islands, Dulcie Flower moved to Sydney in 1960 to study midwifery. She was general secretary of FCAATSI in 1968 and, in 1971, helped establish the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, which gave free medical care to Aboriginal people. In 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the Indigenous community and to the 1967 Referendum Campaign.

A trained nurse and Meriam woman from the Torres Strait Islands, Dulcie Flower moved to Sydney in 1960 to study midwifery. She was general secretary of FCAATSI in 1968 and, in 1971, helped establish the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, which gave free medical care to Aboriginal people. In 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the Indigenous community and to the 1967 Referendum Campaign.

‘We must put aside shame, study and identify with our Aboriginal and Islander culture, otherwise there is no hope for our peoples. Violence is going to start. I don’t want to see it, but it’s coming for sure.’ 

Len Watson was a member of the Brisbane Tribal Council. He spoke out passionately and candidly about the discrimination and racism experienced by black Australians and lobbied for improved rights and conditions. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘We must put aside shame, study and identify with our Aboriginal and Islander culture, otherwise there is no hope for our peoples. Violence is going to start. I don’t want to see it, but it’s coming for sure.’ 

Len Watson was a member of the Brisbane Tribal Council. He spoke out passionately and candidly about the discrimination and racism experienced by black Australians and lobbied for improved rights and conditions. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘We have millions of allies around the world today, in the struggle for dignity.’ 

Faith Bandler was well-known as general secretary of FCAATSI, appearing as its spokesperson for the 1967 referendum campaign for Indigenous rights. Faith’s father was a South Sea Islander (from Ambrym Island) and her Australian-born mother had a Scottish–Indian background. Faith was a lifelong advocate for Indigenous rights and a successful author, writing about her life and activist career. 

 Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970

‘We have millions of allies around the world today, in the struggle for dignity.’ 

Faith Bandler was well-known as general secretary of FCAATSI, appearing as its spokesperson for the 1967 referendum campaign for Indigenous rights. Faith’s father was a South Sea Islander (from Ambrym Island) and her Australian-born mother had a Scottish–Indian background. Faith was a lifelong advocate for Indigenous rights and a successful author, writing about her life and activist career. 

 Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970

‘The Government should have brought the Queen to La Perouse, to see our conditions of life, and to give us a deed to the land there that is rightly ours.’ 

Trudy Longbottom was a community leader from La Perouse. She was a staunch land rights campaigner, helping to establish the NSW Aboriginal Land Council in 1977. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970

‘The Government should have brought the Queen to La Perouse, to see our conditions of life, and to give us a deed to the land there that is rightly ours.’ 

Trudy Longbottom was a community leader from La Perouse. She was a staunch land rights campaigner, helping to establish the NSW Aboriginal Land Council in 1977. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970

‘The long years of suppression have taught us we have to come out fighting. We are becoming radical, we inevitably talk about black power, and we will no longer be content with a secondary role in society’ 

Bruce McGuinness was a Wiradjuri man born in Cootamundra NSW but he spent most of his life in Melbourne. A tireless activist for Aboriginal rights, he became Victorian state director of FCAATSI in 1969. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘The long years of suppression have taught us we have to come out fighting. We are becoming radical, we inevitably talk about black power, and we will no longer be content with a secondary role in society’ 

Bruce McGuinness was a Wiradjuri man born in Cootamundra NSW but he spent most of his life in Melbourne. A tireless activist for Aboriginal rights, he became Victorian state director of FCAATSI in 1969. 

Quote from Tribune, 6 May 1970 

‘I know we can proudly hold our own with others if given the chance.’ 

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, from Yorta Yorta country along the Murray River in southern NSW, was the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted, in 1972, and the first to serve as a state governor, in 1976–77. Alongside a stellar sporting career as a boxer, sprinter and footballer, he was a committed Christian, an activist and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.  

Quote from 1938 Day of Mourning protests, Australian Dictionary of Biography online

‘I know we can proudly hold our own with others if given the chance.’ 

Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls, from Yorta Yorta country along the Murray River in southern NSW, was the first Aboriginal Australian to be knighted, in 1972, and the first to serve as a state governor, in 1976–77. Alongside a stellar sporting career as a boxer, sprinter and footballer, he was a committed Christian, an activist and a pioneering campaigner for reconciliation.  

Quote from 1938 Day of Mourning protests, Australian Dictionary of Biography online

This Day Tonight, ABC TV, April 1970

Reproduced by permission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation — Library Sales © 1970 ABC

Program for the Day of Mourning ceremony held at La Perouse, 29 April 1970

Read the full program, digitised at the State Library of NSW.

‘It was easily the biggest national protest in Aboriginal history, with participants from all three eastern States; and Aboriginal leaders feel it may mark a significant turning point.’ 

— journalist Margaret Jones, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 April 1970

After an all-night vigil in the city, protesters gathered in Hyde Park, where Aboriginal pastors addressed the crowd in several Aboriginal languages. Then, carrying placards displaying the names of Indigenous nations across Australia, they marched in silent procession up Oxford Street and along Flinders Street to the Captain Cook Hotel at Moore Park, and continued by motorcade to La Perouse. 

While the Day of Mourning was reported as the biggest national Aboriginal protest to date, it drew on a long and tireless tradition of activism and protest, including the 1938 Day of Mourning on the 150th anniversary of British settlement in Australia.

Carrying placards displaying the names of Indigenous nations from across Australia, and wearing badges supporting Aboriginal land rights, protesters leave Hyde Park and head up Oxford Street in silent procession.

View in catalogue

Carrying placards displaying the names of Indigenous nations from across Australia, and wearing badges supporting Aboriginal land rights, protesters leave Hyde Park and head up Oxford Street in silent procession.

View in catalogue

Carrying placards displaying the names of Indigenous nations from across Australia, and wearing badges supporting Aboriginal land rights, protesters leave Hyde Park and head up Oxford Street in silent procession.

View in catalogue

Carrying placards displaying the names of Indigenous nations from across Australia, and wearing badges supporting Aboriginal land rights, protesters leave Hyde Park and head up Oxford Street in silent procession.

View in catalogue

While the Royal Navy Band played, the Premier and Queen delivered speeches and Cook’s 1770 landing was re-enacted at Kurnell, the motorcade of mourners and their supporters arrived across the bay at Frenchmans Beach at La Perouse. An Aboriginal mourning ceremony was led by Pastors Frank Roberts and Doug Nicholls, and poet and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) read a verse of mourning. From the shoreline, wreaths of mourning and remembrance were cast into the water, and from the headland, the protesters turned their back to the royal yacht as it sailed out of the bay.

‘I could have been at Kurnell to shake hands with the Queen, but I chose to be on this side of the bay with my people, to mourn this sad day.’ 

— community leader Trudy Longbottom, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 April 1970

The centrepiece of the long list of events organised by the Captain Cook Bi-Centenary Celebrations Citizens’ Committee was a re-enactment of Cook’s landing at Kurnell on the shores of Kamay (Botany Bay). Attended by Queen Elizabeth II and a who’s who of dignitaries, the re-enactment was televised across Australia.  

Official ceremony (edited version) of the official events. Original held by NSW State Archives and Records NRS-12166 © State of NSW. View catalogue record of State Library copy

‘When I attended high school I was taught that Australia was discovered by Captain James Cook … [but] the truth is that Australia was stolen by armed robbery. History is often written and erased by the victors, so I decided to challenge the colonial history of Australia from an Aboriginal perspectives and simply tell the truth.’ 

— artist Jason Wing, 2020 

How was the 200th anniversary of the Endeavour’s landing at Kamay (Botany Bay) marked by civil rights activists in Australia?

How have relationships and understandings between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians changed since the 1970 Day of Mourning?

Kamay location photography by Joy Lai, State Library of New South Wales.