On a Day Such as This
Artist
Neil Murray
Date2011
Object number00054577
NameText on paper
MediumPencil on paper
DimensionsDisplay dimensions: 700 × 520 × 20 mm
Overall: 698 × 518 × 20 mm
Overall: 698 × 518 × 20 mm
Copyright© Neil Murray
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionWritten text from the Neil Murray's visit to Cooktown were he remagines in his writing the ENDEAVOUR making first contact with the Guguu Yimithirr people. Murray also comments on the luck of Cook and his crew to have landed on the southern bank of the Wahalumbaal River (now the Endeavour River), a safe place between the Kuku Yolanji and Gugug Yimithirr, a place of talking not fighting. The site of the first forms of reconciliation.
History"On a Day such as This
From the crest of a grassy hill
when the wattle blooms are jostled and tossed
by the freshening sou-easter
On a day such as this
a tall square ship limped into view
A sail bandage fathered her hull
while she sought for refuge and repairs
that would await her
in the mouth of a certain river
into the lee of a grassy hill
But at this time of year
in the second week of June 1770
or any year since - such as June 12th 2011
The wind - being such a capricious thing
of unknown agent, persists
and would have her wait
three days for gales to subside
before it was safe to run into that sheltered river
and bestow her name upon it -
The Endeavour
and beach the shattered hull
on the southern bank
- as providence would favour
a safe place between the nations
of Kuku Yolanji and Gugug Yimithirr
And the eyes that witnessed her arrival
from the crest of a grassy hill
came down to see what the ocean
had brought them this time "
- Neil Murray
After the Cook and his crew managed to float the HMB ENDEAVOUR off the reef, it was essential that repairs to the damaged hull were carried out as soon as possible. A safe haven was desperately needed and one was found at the mouth of a neraby river which Cook was to name Endeavour River.
Here, the ship was unloaded, a shore camp established and repairs began. This stay would end up being a seven week visit during which time contact was made with the Guguu Yimithirr people.
Initially the Guguu Yimithirr were wary of the arrivals yet over time the excahnges were positive and Sydney Parkinson was able to record some of the local language, including names for what they were seeing such as the 'gangurru' (kangaroo).
The relationship between the British and the Guguu Yimithirr altered however over a dispute over the number of turtles the ENDEAVOUR crew caught and their reluctance to share the food with the locals. The dispute was resolved on both sides but not before a fires were lit and a shot fired.
In his words, Neil Murray refers to the area as being a recognized non-conflict space between the local Kuku Yolanji and Gugug Yimithirr people, a significant place that was not aware of when he landed.
This work by Neil Murray was produced for East Coast Encounter, a multi-arts initiative involving Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, writers and songwriters to re-imagine the encounter by Lieutenant James Cook and his crew with Indigenous people in 1770.
Cook's voyage along the Australian east coast has become central to national historical narratives. The East Coast Encounter project asked artists to re-envisage this seminal journey by imaginatively exploring moments of contact between two world views during these encounters. It also brought these events into the present by incorporating artists' reflections on their relevance today, and their responses to visits to significant contact locations. Topics such as encounter, impact, differing perspectives, nature and culture and views of country are investigated.
SignificanceThese words by Neil Murray give a contemporary perspective on first contact and the impact of European colonisation. The words, as part of East Coast Encounters, is a voice in a shared story, re-imagined by Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, to encourage cultural dialogue and promote reconciliatory understanding.
