Four 18th century Aboriginal spears, stolen by Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks during their first contact with Australia, have been returned to their rightful owners. 

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Cook was the captain of the HMB Endeavour, the first British ship to dock in Australia, whilst Banks led their scientists. The spears were taken in 1770, and gifted to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1771. The claims the spears were stolen passively (from an Aboriginal camp) are highly contested, as the local villagers who inhabited Kamay (modern-day Botony Bay) are reported to have harshly resisted the British arrival, so much so that Cook is believed to have shot at several of the natives to subdue them. The four artifacts, now known as the Gweagal Spears (after the Gweagal clan that crafted them), are among a total of 40 spears that were stolen by the voyagers during their 8-day stay and the only known to have survived since they were seized over 250 years ago. 

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Australian elders have been among the most vocal of all global advocates for the repatriation of historical, ancestral and cultural artifacts. The campaign for the return of the spears began decades ago, before a formal repatriation request was made in 2022 by the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Gujaga Foundation.

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Noeleen Timbery, a representative of the La Perouse Council stated "Many of the families within the La Perouse Aboriginal Community are descended from those who were present during the eight days the Endeavour was anchored in Kamay in 1770... Our Elders have worked for many years to see the ownership [of the spears] transferred to the traditional owners of Botany Bay.”

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Today, during a ceremony at Trinity College’s Wren Library, which was attended by the Australian delegate, the La Perouse community and others, the spears were permanently repatriated to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community - some of which may be the direct descendants of the spears cultivators. Noleen Timbery called the repatriation that her community fought for a ‘momentous occasion that…the spears that were undoubtedly taken without permission are returned to the rightful people”.

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Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College, also said of the occasion "this is the right decision and Trinity is committed to reviewing the complex legacies of the British empire, not least in our collections."

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Residents, let’s hope this is a step towards further repatriation of cultural artifacts to their rightful owners - the repatriation of Nigeria’s Benin bronzes and over 100,000 Greek artifacts still in British museums are currently being discussed.

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