Charles Woosup — Ankamuthi, Milton Savage — Kaurareg, Nicholas Thompson — Gudang Yadhaykenu
CHARLES WOOSUP, ANKAMUTHI: 'For us as traditional owners, it's hard. It's hard because we are only traditional owner in name but we don't own this area because its still all under government claim. Cook came here and claimed it for them.
MILTON SAVAGE, KAURAREG: 'In 2001 when we entered the Federal Courts and got our determination ... we won our determination through Cook's journals. So that’s a good side.'
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, GUDANG YADHAYKENU: 'For our fellow countrymen, it's 250, you know, years of heartache and trauma. You know we still suffering from the past, you know, from all the trauma that's happened. But we are resilient, it’s a skill set we have. We are used to the pain and the suffering, the trauma we’ve been through. And when we face those things again in the future, we are a lot stronger.'
MILTON SAVAGE, KAURAREG: 'We need to talk about these things and discuss these things in a healing way, so that we can have an understanding. It’s not a racial thing, a black and white thing ... it’s an Australian thing together. Yeah that’s what I see.'
CHARLES WOOSUP, ANKAMUTHI: 'Well our community has grown a lot in the last 250 years. You know, we’ve modernised and all that but I don’t think it’s anything to do with Cook. It’s just the lifestyle, the technology coming, the people, things have changed.
MILTON SAVAGE, KAURAREG: And the most important thing is, I’m proud that our island, you know Bedanug, has been chosen, you know, to take the prominent position within the British Commonwealth history. So, we are on the map!'
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, GUDANG YADHAYKENU: 'Knowledge of tidal changes and a deep understanding of the stars and what they meant indicated that community here could accurately predict the weather and tides. This was key to hunting and travel. At the time the crew of the Endeavour were planning their next move, they were no doubt looking to the night skies to navigate their way home. On the shore, these same stars were used to read the seasons, winds and tides.'