Aboriginal spears taken by Captain Cook from an Australian clan are to be returned by the University of Cambridge.
James Cook acquired the artefacts in the 1770s from the Gweagal clan which greeted the British explorer when he first landed in Australia, and they were later donated to Trinity College.
The four spears will now be returned after 250 years and a 20-year-old campaign for repatriation by the descendants of the clan.
Professor Nicholas Thomas, director of the university’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) where the spears have been held, said: “They are the first artefacts collected by any European from any part of Australia that remain extant and documented.
“They reflect the beginnings of a history of misunderstanding and conflict.
“Their significance will be powerfully enhanced through return to [the] country.”
Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College, welcomed the decision to return the spears.
“Trinity is committed to better understanding the college’s history, and to addressing the complex legacies of the British Empire, not least in our collections.
“We believe that this is the right decision and I would like to acknowledge and thank all those involved.”
The then Lieutenant Cook of the HMS Endeavour made landfall at Botany Bay in 1770 and recorded in his log that some Aboriginal inhabitants hurled rocks and spears at his men, who in turn fired a warning shot and then proceeded to gather spears from a nearby encampment.
On Cook’s return to Britain, his Admiralty benefactor Lord Sandwich presented the spears to Trinity College, and they have been part of the collection since 1771.
Since 1914, the four spears have been held by the MAA. The four are all that remain of the original 40 spears collected.
Cambridge agreed to return the spears following a fresh formal request in December and they will be handed over to the community of La Perouse, based in Botany Bay near Sydney.
Noeleen Timbery, chairperson of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, welcomed the repatriation, saying: “We are proud to have worked with Cambridge’s Trinity College and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology to transfer the ownership of these enormously significant artefacts to the La Perouse Aboriginal community.
“They are an important connection to our past, our traditions and cultural practices, and to our ancestors.
“Our elders have worked for many years to see their ownership transferred to the traditional owners of Botany Bay. 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 (Botany Bay) in 1770.”
The return of the spears comes amid a shift in policy toward repatriation at Cambridge and follows the 2022 decision to return the university’s large collection of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria.
This has proved contentious in Nigeria itself, where there are competing claims to the bronzes from the Benin royal family and the Nigerian government.
The Charity Commission approved the University of Cambridge’s plans to repatriate the 116 bronzes in the MAA. In 2021, the regulator approved plans to return a bronze cockerel sculpture to Nigeria.
