- Australian National Maritime Museum

As the HMB Endeavour sailed north, fires were lit warning others of its approach. At Kamay, Walumbaal Biri and other places, stories and songs of the arrival of these strangers were told for generations to come.

These voices have often been missed by a focus on the Endeavour voyage and the beginning of modern Australia. The lasting impact of the voyage on Australia’s First Peoples has only relatively recently been part of the conversation about Australian history.

For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Endeavour voyage and Cook's claim of possession of what he called New South Wales in 1770, is seen as heralding the invasion of their country.

VOICES urges all Australians to reflect on the enduring legacies of the Endeavour voyage and to learn about the survival of culture and the movement for rights and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the Traditional Owners of these lands and waters.

The work, the strange big canoe, created with the team from Ample Projects, is based on journal records and Indigenous histories that weave keynotes from HMB Endeavour’s voyage along the east coast into the perspectives of Indigenous communities along the shore and officers and crew on the ship.

First Peoples

We know a great deal about the people who sailed on HMB Endeavour, but we know much less about the people they met along the way.

There are descendants, direct links and stories however, that have been handed down over generations, providing us with information that isn't found in colonial diaries and journals.

Here you will meet some of the people who met James Cook. Some, such as Tupaia, travelled with Cook and often directed the Europeans encounters with First Peoples. Others were angered by Endeavour's uninvited presence on their shores, and some recorded the ship sailing past their coast.

All of them influenced the events of 1770 in some way.

Laura's comments: This entire paragraph is so vague. Who was angered and who recorded the ship sailing past? More information needed!

Maori trading a crayfish with Joseph Banks by Tupaia, 1769. Image courtesy British Library

Historian Dame Anne Salmond has said that Tupaia played a pivotal role on Cook's first journey to the South Pacific, stating 'he was more important than Cook'. Tupaia not only provided knowledge of many Pacific Islands, but was a critical interpreter for the Europeans in Aotearoa New Zealand. Tupaia's only known drawing of Maori trading a crayfish with Joseph Banks,1769. Image courtesy British Library Laura's comment: More background information needed. Who was Tupaia? Could we elaborate more on what he actually did during Cook's first voyage?

Omai, a native of Ulaietea, 1774 by Francesco Bartolozzi originally taken from a painting by Nathaniel Dance. ANMM Collection, 00045168

Mai ('Omai') – Tupaia died en route to England on Cook's first voyage, but Mai, who had also met Cook in 1769, travelled with him back to England in 1773 on Cook's second voyage. In London he was introduced to British society by Joseph Banks. He returned to the island of Huahine on Cook's third voyage in 1777. Image: Omai, a native of Ulaietea, 1774 by Francesco Bartolozzi originally taken from a painting by Nathaniel Dance. ANMM Collection, 00045168 Laura's comment: Could more information also be provided on Mai?

Yuin

As the Endeavour sailed north along the east coast of Australia, it passed many First Nations. From the far south coast of modern day New South Wales, up to present day Nowra, the Yuin people watched the vessel pass to the north.

https://www.sea.museum/2019/07/05/attending-a-cultural-camp-to-make-nawi-canoes-rope-and-coolamons

Laura's comments: I don't know why this blog has been included here - how does it relate to the Yuin people? Could we not just include more information about the Yuin people watching the vessel pass? What did they think of it?

Gweagal

The Gweagal people were the first to meet the Endeavour crew face to face on 29th April 1770. After the Two warriors opposed the strangers landing and were wounded by ‘small shot’ fired by Cook and his crew, the Gweagal avoided contact with the Europeans while they were scouring Kamay for water, wood and botanical specimens. The strangers also took many of the Gweagal people’s spears and other objects – some of which are still in museum collections today. (Are these replicas? If so, we should say this.)

Page from A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in His Majesty's Ship the Endeavour by Sydney Parkinson, 1773. ANMM Collection 00004423

The story behind recreating replicas of the Gweagal Spears, which we're taken from the locals by James Cook at Kamay, Botany Bay in 1770. This video provides insight into the craftsmanship and skill required to make each spear and their deep cultural significance to the history of Australia.

Gugu Yimithirr

In June 1770, the Endeavour limped into the Walambaal Birri (Endeavour River) after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef. The Gugu Yimithirr at first welcomed the strangers as they repaired their vessel for several weeks in their country. Conflict occurred later however, when the strangers took too many turtles.

L.S comments: More detail needed to flesh out this paragraph

Where are the Gugu Yimithirr community located? North Queensland?

Why did conflict occur over turtles? How many did they take? What happened?

The Gugu Yimithirr community has worked hard to find the stories from both sides of the encounter with the Endeavour and have worked together to both record and share their history through the telling of stories and culture in this film, which includes the encounters their ancestors had with those on board the Endeavour as it sailed past their country and landed on their homelands at Walambaal Birri in Cooktown. Aunty Alberta Hornsby and her daughter, work to record and recount the stories and histories of the Gugu Yimithirr people. The stories are shared by Harold Ludwick.

LS comments: Copy needs to change as it is far too repetitive and doesn't make much sense. Similarly, both Aunty Alberta Hornsby and Harold Ludwick relate the stories in the video

Bedhan Lag

Bedhan Lag was called Possession Island by Cook. In his log he reported that he raised the British flag and declared possession of 'exact quote'. Historians have now suggested Cook may have amended his log to add this event as he had failed to declare formal possession earlier. Interestingly, this agrees with oral histories from XXX.

Kate's notes: Need to ask Beau if we can use this material here - interview with someone who has a story.

Laura's comments: Emailed Beau about a video relating to this. Still waiting on a reply.

Papua New Guinea

In early September 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook had sailed his ship HMB Endeavour from Australian shores and was passing Papua New Guinea en-route to Timor and then Batavia, a strange event occurred.

Along with naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, and with only a few crew, he landed a small boat on what seemed to be a deserted beach. Cook did not feel safe however to venture into the close, thick bush 'in fear of an ambuscade' (ambush).¹

Officers on board Endeavour watched through telescopes as Cook and his men suddenly came under attack by New Guinea locals. Alarmingly, and to their surprise, they saw puffs of smoke that looked like the powder flash of flintlock muskets. According to Cook's report, the men on Endeavour genuinely believed he was under attack by firearms:²

... what appeare'd most extraordinary to us was something they had which caused a flash or fire or [smoke], very much like the going off of a Pistol or sm'll Gun ... When 4 or 5 would let them off all at once [this] had all the appearances in the world of Volleys of Small Arms ...

Cook thought these weapons might have been used in imitation of firearms, but could only guess at their use. It seems that the weapons were bamboo poles with burning tinder inside that could cloud the user in smoke and serve as a threat or challenge.

Whatever the case, 'small parties of natives' advanced from the woods, causing Cook and his men to return to their ship. When Endeavour left New Guinea, both Cook and Banks noted that the crew's morale improved. Banks put it down to nostalgia, but another factor may well have been the knowledge they were finally heading toward European colonies, and no longer needed to maintain a constant state of military alert.

The Shore

Australians have learned their history of the encounters that occurred on the east coast of Australia in 1770 from the Europeans who wrote diaries on the Endeavour, and from historians who have studied them. The history of 1770 has been very much a view from the ship, and only recently have non-Indigenous people recognised the importance of, and the long existence of, continuous stories about the coming of Captain Cook.

Taking a view ‘from the shore’ means we begin to think about Cook’s voyage along the east coast of Australia in a very different way. It is a critical view, if we are to understand the momentous arrival of a ship that heralded massive change for Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands Peoples.

Badtjala traditional owner, cultural knowledge holder and linguist, Gemma Cronin shares some of the lore and history of the Badtjala people on the island K'Gari. She recounts the process of translating the Badtjala song which describes the sighting of Endeavour as it travelled past Tukki Wurru between 18-20 May 1770, a place Cook described as Indian Head.

This film by Jeff McMullen tells the story of the East Coast Encounter project, where a group of artists, re-visit Australia's east coast and the key places where Cook landed and got his first impressions of the country and its inhabitants. The artists express their views and reflect on the impact of this event in the lives of Australia's Indigenous peoples and the generations to come.

Gail Mabo with her artwork Constellations in the background

Gail Mabo shares her inspiration for, and the process of creating her work Constellation. As an educator herself, Gail shares some examples of educational materials to support teachers in the classroom who may be engaging with art and histories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

The Impact

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'Too many Captain Cooks'

The significance of Cook and the Endeavour for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is reflected in the museum's collection of contemporary art. First Peoples artists have responded to Cook and the Endeavour in many different and powerful ways. Below are a selection of artworks from the museum's collection that express many aspects of the impact on Australia's First Peoples that began from 1770.

Botany Bay by Gordon Syron, 2012. This painting depicts a night view of Botany Bay as it was in 1770. This work was part of the East Coast Encounters project which involved a group of artists re-imagining the arrival of the Europeans and first contact. © Gordon Syron, National Maritime Collection, 00054535

Black Bastards Are Coming by Gordon Syron, 2013. This work reverses the roles of colonisers and those whose land they invaded. © Gordon Syron, National Maritime Collection, 00054536

Colonial Wallpapers - Mantle of Perception by Helen S Tiernan, 2017. This panorama appropriates the photographic and printed recordings of colonial artists and places them in an endless Indigenous ancestral landscape. At the centre is the bust of Truganini who was incorrectly labelled 'the last of the Tasmanian Aboriginal race'. © Helen S Tiernan, National Maritime Collection, V00055150

Too Many Captain Cooks by Paddy Wainburranga Fordham, 1993. This artwork tells the story of Badaparr, the custodian of the country who is likened to James Cook. Badaparr and the devil Lungi Ngyan (Ngayang Lunji) fought and the body of the devil was thrown, creating Sydney Harbour. © Paddy Wainburranga Fordham, National Maritime Collection, 00017992

Captain James Crook by Jason Wing, 2013. This powerful artwork challenges the notion of ownership and Terra Nullius. © Jason Wing, National Maritime Collection, 00055322

Solid Rock Sacred Ground, Possession Island, Queensland by Shane Michael Howard, 2014. The words in this piece come from the 1982 album Spirit of Place which Shane Howard recorded with his band Goanna. It was one of the first songs of its kind to approach the subject of Indigenous land rights in Australia. © Shane Michael Howard, National Maritime Collection, 00054546

The battle for Sea Country legal rights

An Australian Stonehenge?

Yirrkala paintings of the Saltwater collection

In the fight to protect their land rights, the Yolŋu people of north-east Arnhem land produced a collection of 80 bark paintings that tell their stories of country and culture in an aim to educate strangers.

Laura's comments: If we are going to use this video, it needs to be re-edited so it doesn't include the old logo at the end