#Gweagalshield
The Gweagal Shield
The Artefact of First Contact
Today that shield still exists and it resides in the British Museum.
The significance of this object is that, in a single artifact, it provides concise, poetic and irrefutable proof that from the very moment of first contact Australia was not peacefully settled. Despite the violent history of the British Empire up until then (and beyond) on this occasion it was not supposed to be that way. In fact there were express written orders from the Admiralty and the King to that effect. Those orders were disobeyed.
Rodney Kelly
Hear first hand, the oral history of the first contact event that has been passed down through the Gweagal clan for the past 246 years. Rodney Kelly is the custodian of this story of first contact.
Hear him talk about why he is travelling to the UK to return the artefacts of his ancestors from the British Museum to the Gweagal clan of the Dharawal tribe in Sydney to form the centrepiece of an Aboriginal Living Cultural Heritage Museum.
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Rodney is a sixth generation descendant of the shield’s owner Cooman and is committed to seeing
the shield returned to its home Country in Sydney.
“Our weapons and tools tell a story of who we are and about our way of life, they carry our
knowledge from generation to generation, teachings of how they were made for thousands of years
the knowledge of language / lore / hunting and ceremonies.”
I am Rodney Kelly, a Djiringanj Dharawal knowledge holder. My story is about first contact and
the events that took place in April to May of 1770 between Cook and his crew on the Endeavour
and my people of Kamay (Botany Bay).
Our stories from that day are still passed down from the people who were there 246 years ago. My
ancestor opposed James Cook and survived the first fleet landing of 1788 and everything that
happened afterwards. My people still have an unbroken connection to this land that has been
occupied by our ancestors for thousands of years. This is the story of our survival.
The bones and artefacts of our people must be returned to our country. It is in our culture that we
came from the Earth and we go back to the Earth so our spirits can pass into the afterlife”
-Rodney Kelly 2016
Roxley Foley
Sacred Fire Keeper
Who is Roxley Foley ?
Son of Dr. Garey Foley, professor of Aboriginal history and founder of the legendary Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Roxley Foley is a Gumbaynggirr man from Nambucca Heads.
Recently appointed custodian of the Sacred Fire at Canberra's Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Roxley is a knowledge and story keeper of modern Aboriginal History in Australia. Raised and taught by some of Australia's most famous and succesful political activists, Roxley has been immersed in Indigenous Australia's political
struggle since birth.
Roxley will be speaking about the issues affecting modern Indigenous Australia such as reconciliation, assimilation, constitutional recognition & deaths in custody.
Roxley Foley's modern history of Aboriginal Australia including the ongoing cultural genocide of Australia's original people; Indigenous Youth incarceration rates, child removal rates and a film/spoken presentation of the modern history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy from 2014-2016 plus slideshow of Tent
Embassy photography.
Vincent Forrester
Central Australian Elder
Vincent Forrester is a Luritja/Aranda man, a traditional elder of Mutitjulu who was born in Alice Springs in 1952. He grew up both in Alice Springs and Angus Downs (400km southwest of Alice Springs on the Luritja Highway).
Vincent’s grandmother was born at Katajuta and his Scottish grandfather Bill Liddle was the first cattle station owner in South West Central Australia. His station became the refuge for many Indigenous people during two decades of the ‘rifle times’ (a period of 50 years where Indigenous people were routinely massacred in the area).
#Gweagalshield
Artefact of First Contact
What is the Gweagal Shield?
The Gweagal Shield is the shield taken by James Cook and his companions when they first stood
on Australian soil at Botany Bay in 1770. As they approached the shore Cook and his crew were
warned-off by two Gweagal men shaking spears at them and shouting. ln the exchange that
followed the shield’s owner, Cooman, was shot in the leg by Cook and ran for cover. The shield
was then taken by Cook from where it was left.
Who are the Gweagal people?
The Gweagal are a clan of the Dhurawal Aboriginal people whose country covers the Southern
shores of Botany Bay and extends out towards Liverpool in the West and towards the Shoalhaven in
the South.
Why is this important?
ln Aboriginal cultural belief and practice all artefacts must be kept on the Country they came from.
They always remain an integral part of the story of that Country. State laws covering Aboriginal
cultural heritage in New South Wales recognise this fact. It is very disrespectful to keep artefacts
such as the Gweagal Shield away from their home.
How do we know James Cook took the shield?
These events are recorded in the diaries of James Cook, Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson made
during the voyage of the Endeavour in 1770. The story has also been passed down through the
generations by the Gweagal people.
Cook took the shield back to England as well as 40 to 50 Gweagal spears that were taken that day.
The shield has been held by the British Museum ever since. Some of the spears are currently in the
collection of Cambridge University.
First Contact 1770
Lt. James Cook of the British Royal Navy 'discovered' the land now known as Australia in 1770. This is considered an act of invasion by it's original inhabitants whom lived here for over 60,000 years.
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The first words Cook heard in Australia were 'Warra, Warra Wai' meaning 'Go away.'
On the day after he landed April 29, 1770 He recorded in his own diary ;
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'all they seem'd to want was for us to be gone.'