On the Sacred clay of Botany Bay: Landings, National Memorialization, and Multiple Sovereignties
Date
2017
Authors
McGrath, Ann
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Abstract
To mark the federation of the Australian colonies in January 1901, a re-enactment of the
landing of British navigator Captain James Cook was performed at Botany Bay, New South
Wales. This involved not only the arrival of Cook’s ‘discovery’ party ashore, but also a
violent conflict with the local Gweagal/Dharawal people. The Landing Play brought together
costumed professional actors and a troupe of Aboriginal performers from many parts of
Australia. As indelible as the Cook landing story may seem as a foundational narrative replete
with British flag raising performances, Australia’s national story has never been entirely
unified, homogenous or settled. Spectacularly adorned in animal skins and bird feathers,
the Indigenous troupe used sacred white clay to paint their faces and bodies in distinctive
designs, signifying the deep history narratives of their respective Indigenous nations. Both
the European and Indigenous Australian actors re-enacted histories associated with their
respective ancestral heroes on lands they deemed sacred. These contested performances of
sovereignty, of ‘landings’ and of history, were mutually witnessed and in conversation with
each other. Yet, while contemporary politicians and elites were reifying Captain Cook’s legacy,
much of the general audience ignored expectations, invading the VIP tent and cheering not the
pompous Captain Cook oratory, but the Aboriginal actors who charged and attacked Cook’s
party. A Maori Native Affairs Minister from New Zealand and three Maori chiefs watched
the 1901 spectacle. In contrast to the Indigenous recognition enjoyed in neighboring New
Zealand, the Australian government today continues to resist a constitutionally recognised
Indigenous advisory body, let alone to discuss discrete parliamentary representation or a
Treaty. Yet then, as now, multiple parallel sovereignties and their sacred histories continue
to be enacted and re-enacted across the Australian continent..
Keywords: memorialization, landing, re-enactment, Indigenous sovereignty, Botany Bay,
Australia, Captain Cook, sacred places, nationalism, violent conflict, Colonialism
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Keywords
Citation
McGrath, A. (2017). On the Sacred Clay of Botany Bay: Landings, National Memorialization, and Multiple Sovereignties. New Diversities, 19(2), 85-102. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://newdiversities.mmg.mpg.de/?page_id=3202
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Source
New Diversities
Type
Journal article
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Access Statement
Open Access via publisher website