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The legend and legacy of James Cook

Explore the historical impact and legacy of James Cook, with a focus on the perspectives of First Nations peoples. Aligned with the Australian curriculum: Modern history for senior secondary, this module encourages students to explore the evolving portrayals of Cook in Australian history, the concept of terra nullius and the lasting impact of Cook's voyages and European settlement on the environment to form their own conclusions about contact between First Nations peoples and later arrivals.
Senior Secondary Humanities

About this module

Using an inquiry-based approach, this module develops students' skills as historians through engaging historical sources. Featuring sources from the National Library's collections, the resource caters for flexible approaches to suit diverse classroom contexts and learning styles.

Copyright for teachers

You can download all collection materials in this resource for education purposes. For more information, go to copyright for teachers.

Topics and learning activities

This module covers 5 key topics. 

Each topic includes an introduction to key concepts, links to key resources in our collection and a series of learning activities that cater for a variety of classroom contexts and learning styles.

This image shows two handwritten journal pages: the left features structured, titled entries, while the right is filled with continuous cursive text, densely covering the page in a narrative style.

James Cook, Excerpt from Captain James Cook's Journal of the H.M.S. Endeavour, Friday, 23rd March, 1770, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2354391495

Who writes history?

Topic

How did our national story take shape? In this lesson, students explore how and why Captain James Cook has been portrayed so prominently in Australian history.

Digital Classroom
drawing of the Eastern Shore of Murray Island looking North West

Supreme Court and Australia High Court (1981) Papers of Bryan Keon-Cohen [manuscript]: the Mabo case, 1981-2000, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-224081463

Challenging terra nullius

Topic

Explore evidence of Aboriginal agriculture and settlement in pre-colonial Australia to challenge the concept of terra nullius.

Digital Classroom
A landscape showing a group of people gathered around two campfires. Some sit and lie near the fires, while others stand. Smoke rises from the fires into the night sky. A body of water and distant cliffs are visible under a moonlit, partly cloudy sky.

Joseph Lycett & Joseph Lycett, Aborigines resting by camp fire, near the mouth of the Hunter River, Newcastle, New South Wales, 1817, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138500420

Colonising the environment

Topic

Learn about the environmental legacies of Cook's voyages including the impact on Australia's natural resources, Aboriginal land-management practices and connections to contemporary environmental activism.

Digital Classroom
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

First Nations perspectives on Cook

Topic

Examine a range of First Nations peoples and communities perspectives on Cook’s legacy in contemporary Australia in this lesson for senior secondary students.

Digital Classroom
An Aboriginal person dressed in a red coat with white breeches and black boots stands on a beach, just at the edge of the water. They wear a tricorn hat with a red naval officer jacket and holds a scroll. In the background, a large, multi-masted sailing ship with white sails is anchored on calm waters under an overcast sky.

Michael Cook, Undiscovered #4, 2010, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-708299938

Reshaping narratives of Australian history

Topic

Examine how increasing recognition of First Nations cultures and perspectives is reshaping the national conversation about Australia's post-European settlement history.

Digital Classroom

Curriculum links

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum: Modern History for Senior Secondary students, specifically Unit 2: Movements for Change in the 20th Century. 

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 economic, political and social challenges and opportunities indigenous peoples have faced, including the role of cultural activity in developing awareness in society (ACHMH074)
  • The achievements of indigenous peoples at the end of the 20th century, including the right to vote, land rights/native title, and attempt at reconciliation (ACHMH075)
  • The continued efforts to achieve greater recognition, reconciliation, civil rights, and improvements in education and health (ACHMH076)

  • 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)

More to explore

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Trove
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Author Kathy Weeden reading and acting out her book 'Phonobet' to children and their parents in the foyer during Enlighten

Kathy Weeden reading her book Phonobet, illustrated by Kim Drane and published by NLA Publishing, at Enlighten at the Library 2024

School programs
Curriculum based programs for years 5 to 12 and workshops for teachers
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Group of explorers standing on the top of a snowing cliff overlooking a harbour, waving near a Union Jack flag

Frank Hurley, Sir Douglas Mawson and expedition members cheering the raising of the Union Jack flag at Proclamation Harbour, Enderby Land, Antarctica, ca. 1930, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141170878

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Page published: 17 Oct 2024
James Cook

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