Cambridge University to return Aboriginal spears stolen by Captain James Cook 250 years ago

A formal request for repatriation was made last year in December

A photograph of the four historic Australian Aboriginal Kamay spears that will be repatriated back to Country is seen during a press conference on Bare Island, in Sydney, Australia on 2 March 2023 (EPA)

Four Indigenous spears that were taken by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1770 during his visit to Kamay (Botany Bay) in Australia will be returned to the community, it was reported.

Cambridge’s Trinity College, where the spears were kept, has agreed to return them to the local Sydney clan.

The spears were taken from Kamay when the HMB Endeavour, captained by Lieutenant Cook, was charting Australia’s east coast.