Aboriginal spears taken by Captain Cook in 1770 are returned to Australia’s Indigenous people

By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Four Aboriginal spears that were taken to England by Captain James Cook more than 250 years ago have been returned to Australia’s Indigenous community at a ceremony in Cambridge University. The artifacts were all that remain of some 40 spears that Cook and botanist Joseph Banks took in April 1770, at the time of the first contact between Cook’s crew and the Indigenous people of Kamay, or Botany Bay. The spears were presented to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1771. Their return was agreed last year following a campaign and a formal repatriation request. It is hailed as a step toward reconciliation and a greater understanding of Britain and Australia’s shared history.