Mungari

The La Perouse Aboriginal community celebrates the homecoming of the Gweagal Spears, the resistance of their community and holding strong to their cultural fishing traditions.

Mungari, a fishing songline in Dharawal culture, celebrates the long-awaited homecoming of four of the most significant fishing spears in Australian history. Crafted by Gweagal clansmen of Gamay (Botany Bay), stolen by James Cook and the crew of the Endeavour in April 1770, and held in the United Kingdom for 254 years, these spears tell a story of resistance then and now: the story of the Gweagal Ancestors who bravely defended their homeland, and the story of their descendants who fought for many years to have them returned.           

In March 2023, Trinity College, the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Gujaga Foundation and the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council announced the permanent repatriation of the Gweagal Spears from the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to the La Perouse Aboriginal community. By 2024, the spears had finally arrived back on Dharawal land. Mungari will trace their extraordinary journey and the resistance of many generations that led to their return and the safeguarding and continuation of fishing traditions practiced in the community today.  

Mungari is a story of fishing, resistance and return, hundreds of years in the making. “After 254 years, you came home – nguradha yanbaya njindigang.”

The Chau Chak Wing Museum is proud to present this display during the period the University of Sydney has been entrusted with the temporary care of the Gweagal Spears before their continued journey to Gweagal clan lands and keeping place at Gundal (Kurnell, NSW).

Exhibition closes 29 June 2025

Location

Power Gallery, Level 3
Chau Chak Wing Museum

Cost

Free

This exhibition project is guided by the Gujaga Foundation, the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and the La Perouse Aboriginal community.