We retraced Captain Cook’s journey along the east coast of Australia, seeking the other side of history. It was life changing
We wanted to understand First Nations stories of first contact with the British explorer rarely told in history books, and so we asked Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Last year, one question took us on a 4,500km journey along the east coast of Australia. We knew the journey of Captain James Cook, but we wanted to ask what stories First Nations people tell about the coming of Captain Cook. So from the tall forests of Gunai-Kurnai country in Gippsland to the now developed shores of Dharawal land around southern Sydney and to the bright calm blue waters of the Kaurareg in the Torres Strait, we listened to the stories of how Cook had misread the land and how he had stepped ashore without the proper protocols. How he had stolen resources and tools. How he had often given inappropriate names to landscapes that already had names and deep stories relating to them. Continue reading...