Four of the 40-50 spears collected by Lieutenant James Cook and the crew of HMB Endeavour in 1770 are display at the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum until the end of June.
The fishing spears are the centrepiece of Mungari: Fishing, Resistance, Return, an exhibition opening on 5 April. Their display celebrates the repatriation of these Gweagal Spears to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community.
The free, three-month exhibition gives the public a limited opportunity to view these historical objects. After Mungari’s conclusion the spears, which are sensitive to light, will remain in the care of the Chau Chak Wing Museum until the La Perouse Aboriginal community builds a permanent home for them in Gundal (Kurnell, NSW).
Crafted by Gweagal clansmen of Kamay (Botany Bay), the spears were taken by the crew of the Endeavour in April 1770 and held in the United Kingdom for 254 years, initially at Trinity College before being passed into the care of the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) in 1914. In March 2023 that museum, the Gujaga Foundation and the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council announced their permanent repatriation to Australia.
Displayed alongside the Gweagal spears are contemporary spears made by Uncle Rod Mason, a Senior Elder of the Gweagal clan, Dharawal Nation. All spears featured in the exhibition are on loan from the Gujaga Foundation, which leads the La Perouse Aboriginal community’s language, cultural and research activities. Contemporary and historic examples of fishing tools such as woomera (spear throwing devices), hooks, nets and bags also feature in Mungari.
In addition, Mungari chronicles the 254-year journey of the Gweagal spears and the resistance of many generations that led to their return.
“This exhibition marks an important point in history but it’s also about the continuation and maintenance of culture,” said Marika Duczynski, Gamilaraay and Mandandanji woman and Curator of Indigenous Heritage at the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
“We’re proud to be caring for the spears on behalf of the La Perouse Aboriginal community and to have an opportunity to show them in a way that demonstrates the strength of Dharawal people’s ongoing fishing traditions.”
“Our Elders never forgot what happened in 1770 and the removal of spears were always talked about,” said Ray Ingrey, Founding Chairperson of the Gujaga Foundation. “Mungari not only represents the return of the Gweagal spears taken 255 years ago. This exhibition represents our Elders’ strength in keeping our Dharawal culture alive”.
Mungari is the second Chau Chak Wing Museum exhibition to feature the Gweagal spears. The museum hosted the spears in 2022, when they were on loan from MAA.
The exhibition closes on 29 June.
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