2. First meetings at Kamay Botany Bay

Gweagal Spears.

Reproduced with the permission of the Dharawal and La Perouse community, and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, formerly MAA D 1914.1-4

In 1770, Captain Cook got secret instructions to find the ‘Great South Land’.  

His ship The Endeavour sailed into Kamay Botany Bay, the land of the Gweagal people. 

How did the Gweagal people meet Captain Cook and his crew? 

How did they communicate? 

What happened over the eight days that Captain Cook stayed in Botany Bay? 

Students from Marrickville West Primary School in Sydney tell us what they know about this encounter. 

Ray Ingrey and Paul Irish, along with Captain Cook’s own diary, tell the story of this first meeting, answer kids’ questions, and reflect on how it went. 

Episode outline with timecodes

A quick overview of the episode in sections, the duration in minutes and seconds, and a short description of each section.

eg “Question: Why did Cook come to Australia? 4:04 - 4:13
A student asks why Captain Cook chose Australia, of all the countries he could have visited. 

• Download First Meetings at Kamay Botany Bay episode outline as Word

• Download First Meetings at Kamay Botany Bay episode outline as PDF

Transcript

• Download a transcript of First meetings at Kamay Botany Bay in Word

• Download a transcript of First meetings at Kamay Botany Bay as PDF

Voices 

Ray Ingrey is a Dharawal person from the La Perouse Community. He is a Director of the Gujuga Foundation. 

Paul Irish is a professional historian who has worked for the past twenty years with Aboriginal heritage and history. 

Captain’s Cook diary is voiced by Nick Hopwood. 

Thanks to all the students whose voices you hear in this series, and their schools and teachers: 
Princes Street Primary school, Marrickville West Primary School, Westbourne Grammar School, 
Preshil Primary School, La Perouse Primary School, and Yirrkala Bilingual School.

Use this episode in class

• Play all the way through (23 minutes) or play half the episode (11 minutes) and pause.

• We'll tell you when you've reached halfway, and recap the episode.

• Get the Curriculum guide and Scope and Sequence for your state or the Australian Curriculum.

• Use the 4 page Learning Materials worksheet PDF with your class.

More learning resources

National Museum of Australia

• Endeavour Voyage: The Untold Stories of Cook and the First Australians

• Six investigations for students: How did Cook’s Endeavour voyage change Australia forever?

State Library of NSW

• 8 days in Kamay website with videos

• Stage 2 Learning Activities including Cook: it was only eight days, Who discovered who?, and A modern response to Cook.

NSW Department of Education

• Endeavour: Eight days in Kamay website with learning materials from K-6

Australian Museum

• How we are Unsettled: 9 lessons for Stage 2, 3, and 4 with themes, learning intentions and curriculum links in downloadable PDFs

Books

• Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, illustrated by David Hardy

News: Gweagal Spears return to Australia in April 2024

• Spears taken by Captain Cook at Botany Bay returned to traditional owners after more than 250 years: The Guardian 24 April 2024

Music

Curiously and Curiously and Roundpine by Blue Dot Sessions.

How to cite this episode:

Clark, A., Curtis, J., Wright, C., & Jorgensen, B. (2024, June 11). ‘First meetings at Kamay Botany Bay’. Hey History! (Season 1). UTS Impact Studios. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11557916