Indigenous responses to Cook and his voyage

Guugu Yimithirr Traditional Owner and Bama Historian Alberta Hornsby speaks about her community of Endeavour River and their connection with James Cook.

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This illustration from 1865 showing Captain James Cook's arrival in Australia. Cook is depicted with his crew raising the British flag as they take possession of the land on behalf of the British Crown in 1770. Indigenous people are shown in the background observing the scene. Ships are anchored in the bay, while a variety of people, including soldiers and sailors, are engaged in various activities.

Calvert, Samuel & Gilfillan, J. A., Captain Cook taking possession of the Australian continent on behalf of the British crown, AD 1770, under the name of New South Wales, 1865, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135699884

Essay: Unkept promises

Topic

Mark McKenna is one of Australia’s leading historians, based at the University of Sydney.

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A black-and-white photograph of a statue of Captain Cook on a tall pedestal. The statue shows Cook standing with one arm raised and holding a rolled document in the other hand. Trees and part of a lamppost are visible in the foreground.

Frank Hurley & Thomas Woolner, Captain Cook's Statue, Hyde Park, Sydney, 1, 1910, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160162538

Essay: ‘I’m Captain Cooked’: Aboriginal perspectives on James Cook, 1770-2020

Topic

Professor John Maynard is a Worimi man from the Port Stephens region of New South Wales.

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A large book open at a midway point. The paper is yellowed and stained. The writing is written in highly decorative cursive. The book is being held open on a stand which sits atop a richly varnished cabinet with draws and a fold out desk surface.

Cook, James, 1728-1779 & Hutchinson, John & Wallis, Samuel, 1728-1795 & Bolckow, Henry William Ferdinand, 1806-1878. (1768). Journal of H.M.S. Endeeavour, 1768-1771 [manuscript], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-228958440

James Cook's Endeavour Journal

Topic

Lieutenant James Cook’s 753-page account of the voyage of His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour (also known as HMS Endeavour) from 1768 to 1771 is the story of one of history’s greatest journeys of discovery.

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Joseph Banks, Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1745-1923 (bulk 1745-1820), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-223065342

Hints offered to the consideration of Captain Cook

Topic

Preserved in the National Library of Australia’s Manuscripts Collection, along with Cook’s handwritten journal, are another set of instructions.

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James Cook & Great Britain. Admiralty. (1768). Cook's voyage 1768-71, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-229102048

James Cook's secret instructions

Topic

James Cook’s famous Endeavour voyage was originally commissioned by the Royal Society of London as a scientific mission. When the Admiralty (Royal Navy) became aware that the Society was planning to commission a sea journey to the Southern Hemisphere to collect scientific data, its members saw an opportunity to become involved. However, their motivations were very different to those of the Royal Society.

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Glossary

This glossary includes words highlighted in bold throughout the module. Unless otherwise indicated, definitions and glossary entries come from The Maquarie Dictionary.

Definitions have been selected for best fit to context, some entries have multiple meanings in different applications.

Amity

friendship; harmony; good understanding, especially between nations.

Beach

(verb) Nautical to run or haul up (a ship or boat) on the beach.

Bêche-de-mer

also called trepang. The boiled, dried, and smoked flesh of sea cucumbers used to make soups.

Information taken from Encyclopeadia Britannica

Cataclysm

any violent upheaval, especially one of a social or political nature.

Compartmentalisation

to divide into compartments or sections.

Exhorted

to urge, advise, or caution earnestly; admonish urgently.

Forbearance

to refrain from; desist from; cease

Fostering

to promote the growth or development of; further; encourage

Foundering

to fill with water and sink, as a ship

Gubba

Colloquial: from Gubbament. Which is itself a slang term for government. In some cases, the only white people some Indigenous communities met were from or representing the Government. Hence, white people were associated with the government. Gubba is an evolution of Government Person/Man/Woman > Gubbament person > Gubba.

In lingo

Colloquial: In language, Aboriginal English a traditional Australian Aboriginal language, as distinguished from Standard Australian English, Aboriginal English, or a creole.

Lampooning

a malicious satire upon a person, institution, government, etc., in either prose or verse.

Mantle

something that covers, envelops, or conceal

Omnipotent

almighty, or infinite in power, as God or a deity.

Peer

a nobleman.

Petulance

showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance

Prosaic

commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative.

Residual

remaining; left over

Scapegoat

someone who is made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place

Trochus

a gastropod mollusc of the family Trochidae, having a conical shell

Wanton

done, shown, used, etc., maliciously or unjustifiably
deliberate and uncalled for: why ruin your career in this wanton way?
reckless or disregardful of right, justice, humanity, etc., as persons.

Zealously

Full of, characterised by, or due to zeal; ardently active, devoted, or diligent

Curriculum links

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Modern History for Senior Secondary students, with specific reference to content descriptions for Unit 2: Movements for Change in the 20th Century, and specifically those that fall under the examination of ‘Recognition and rights of Indigenous peoples’.

The resource meets cross-curriculum priorities and promotes the use of historical skills such as analysis and use of sources, perspective and interpretations, and explanation and communication.

The nature of the relationship of Indigenous peoples with their land and their response to, perceptions of, and feelings about the arrival of the colonisers (ACHMH070)
The basis on which the colonists claimed sovereignty and imposed control, including conquest, treaty and the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’; and the consequences for the legal status and land rights of Indigenous peoples (ACHMH071)
The reasons for colonisation and how the country became colonised, including the different situations of the chosen countries, and the nature of those differences (ACHMH077)

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