Coe Gallery was honoured to attend and support the repatriation ceremony at Trinity College, Cambridge.

The Gweagal Spears

On 28 April 1770, the HMB Endeavour commanded by Lieutenant James Cook arrived at Kamay (Botany Bay) in present day Sydney. This was the first encounter between the British and Indigenous Australians of the east coast. The ship’s arrival was resisted by the Gweagal people and forty spears were taken without Gweagal consent from a campsite by members of the Endeavour crew. Only four are extant and documented today. They were given by Cook to the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, first Lord of the Admiralty, who presented them to Trinity College in October 1771.

The spears remained in the Wren Library until 1914 when they were deposited at the University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. In March 2023, Trinity College agreed to return the spears to the community in Sydney. The decision follows a respectful and robust dialogue over the last decade between the University of Cambridge and representatives of the Gweagal people, the broader Dharawal Nation and leading community organisations, including the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Gujaga Foundation.

With thanks to AIATSIS, The Australian High Commission, The La Perouse Community, The University of Cambridge, Trinity College & The National Muesum of Australia.