37°48’11” South 149°16’33” East
It was here that the Endeavour voyagers first sighted the Australian continent.
James Cook, 19 April 1770:
The Southermost Point of land we had in sight … I have named it Point Hicks, because Leuitt Hicks was the first who discover’d this land.
However this place has been home to Indigenous families for thousands of years. Knowledge of the land and sea has been handed down through the generations.
Aileen Blackburn, Monero/Yuin:
Cook didn’t discover Australia. Our peoples were already here. Cook had no rights or consent to give our coastline Anglo-Saxon names.
They did not see the people
For the Endeavour's crew, the shore was a place only briefly experienced from the deck of the ship, far out to sea.
Joseph Banks, 19 April 1770:
With the first day light this morn the Land was seen, at 10 it was pretty plainly to be observd; it made in sloping hills, coverd in Part with trees or bushes, but interspersd with large tracts of sand.
65,000 years of history
At the time the Endeavour approached Munda Bubul (Point Hicks), the First Australians had lived and thrived on this continent for millennia.
Stone artefacts from Madjedbebe rock shelter, deep in the heart of Mirarr country in Arnhem Land, are at least 65,000 years — the oldest evidence of human history in Australia.
They did not see the people whose land this was.
Maureen Mongta, Monero/Yuin:
We’ve got this strong connection to the land and the sea, and we identify ourselves as saltwater people.
Education resources
These resources cater for students in Years 3 to 6 and all activities align with the Australian Curriculum. Years 3 and 4 align with the history content and Years 3 to 6 align with the cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures.