Gweagal Aboriginal Spears
Object or Group Name
Gweagal Aboriginal Spears
Case Summary
Four wooden fishing spears taken from Kamay/Botany Bay in 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook and Joseph Banks were repatriated from Trinity College Cambridge to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community in April 2024. The spears are associated with the Gweagal clan of the Dharawal Nation and are among the earliest surviving and documented Aboriginal cultural objects collected by Europeans from Australia.
The spears were taken during the first encounter between the crew of HMB Endeavour and Aboriginal people at Kamay. Cook recorded that 40 spears were removed from the camps of Aboriginal people living at Botany Bay in April 1770; the four Gweagal spears are the only known survivors from that group. They were presented to Trinity College in 1771 by Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty and a Trinity alumnus, after Cook’s return to England. Since 1914, they had been in the collection of Cambridge University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
The spears are considered by Gweagal people as “national treasures” and remain connected to continuing cultural practice. Contemporary Gweagal people continue to use related multi-pronged fishing spears in the waters of Kamay, demonstrating the continuity of knowledge and practice across generations.
In December 2022, the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Gujaga Foundation made a formal claim for the spears' repatriation. In March 2023, Trinity College agreed to return the spears and sought approval from the UK Charity Commission to transfer legal title. The legal pathway for the return reflected the status of Trinity College as a charity. UK charitable institutions may need approval to transfer collection objects where such a transfer falls outside ordinary charitable powers, including in cases understood as morally compelling claims for restitution. Trinity College’s decision therefore formed part of a broader institutional reckoning with collections shaped by the British Empire.
On April 23, 2024, the spears were handed over in a ceremony at Trinity College’s Wren Library to representatives of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, including descendants of the Gweagal people who made them. Three contemporary spears made by Senior Gweagal Clan leader Rodney Mason were later loaned to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The original spears will be displayed at a new visitor center at Kurnell, Kamay/Botany Bay, near the place from which they were taken. Until then, at the request of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, they will be cared for by the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.
The spears were taken during the first encounter between the crew of HMB Endeavour and Aboriginal people at Kamay. Cook recorded that 40 spears were removed from the camps of Aboriginal people living at Botany Bay in April 1770; the four Gweagal spears are the only known survivors from that group. They were presented to Trinity College in 1771 by Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty and a Trinity alumnus, after Cook’s return to England. Since 1914, they had been in the collection of Cambridge University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
The spears are considered by Gweagal people as “national treasures” and remain connected to continuing cultural practice. Contemporary Gweagal people continue to use related multi-pronged fishing spears in the waters of Kamay, demonstrating the continuity of knowledge and practice across generations.
In December 2022, the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Gujaga Foundation made a formal claim for the spears' repatriation. In March 2023, Trinity College agreed to return the spears and sought approval from the UK Charity Commission to transfer legal title. The legal pathway for the return reflected the status of Trinity College as a charity. UK charitable institutions may need approval to transfer collection objects where such a transfer falls outside ordinary charitable powers, including in cases understood as morally compelling claims for restitution. Trinity College’s decision therefore formed part of a broader institutional reckoning with collections shaped by the British Empire.
On April 23, 2024, the spears were handed over in a ceremony at Trinity College’s Wren Library to representatives of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, including descendants of the Gweagal people who made them. Three contemporary spears made by Senior Gweagal Clan leader Rodney Mason were later loaned to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The original spears will be displayed at a new visitor center at Kurnell, Kamay/Botany Bay, near the place from which they were taken. Until then, at the request of the La Perouse Aboriginal Community, they will be cared for by the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney.
Number of Objects
4
Object Type
Equipment – weapons, helmets, tools, musical instruments
Culture
La Perouse (Dharawal) and Gweagal People
Museum Name
University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Museum Accession Number
MAA D 1914.1; D 1914.2; D 1914.3; D 1914.4
Receiving Country
Australia
Indigenous or sovereign nation/tribe
Sources
MOLA Contributor(s)
Madalyn Grant
Peer Reviewed By
Lisa Duffy-Zeballos
Citation
“Gweagal Aboriginal Spears,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed October 8, 2026, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/2202.