Too Many Captain Cooks
Artist
Paddy Wainburranga Fordham
(1932-2006)
Date1988
Object number00017914
NamePoster
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 704 mm, 0.05 kg
Display dimensions: 705 × 500 mm
Image: 705 × 505 mm
Display dimensions: 705 × 500 mm
Image: 705 × 505 mm
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA poster depicting a coloured photographic image on the left side of the bark painting titled 'Too Many Captain Cooks' by Paddy Fordham Wainburranga (ANMM Collection 00017992). On the right side is the story in Paddy's words of how Captain Cook came to Australia and the consequences thereafter.
Paddy Wainburranga was a recognized story teller, bark painter, sculpture, dancer, singer and musician. He also worked as a stockman and was actively involved in the Indigenous Land Rights movement of the 1970's.
HistorySince 1979 Redback Graphix has worked extensively with community groups and in 1984 started working for the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. They employed Indigenous artists and many of their designers had worked in Indigenous communities.
This poster featuring a painting and words by Paddy Wainburranga, was produced as Australia celebrated the bicentenary. This occasion bought to the public arena the ongoing struggle for Indigenous Australian's rights and what the arrival of Captain Cook 200 years ago meant to their communities.
Paddy Wainburranga tells the story of Captain Cook and subsequent arrivals of Europeans from Rembarrnga perspective:
"This painting is Captain Cook's song the way the Rembarmga people know it from a long time ago.
Captain Cook was around during the time of Satan. Everybody knows Captain Cook. Old people, not young people. You've got to have a lot of learning to know Captain Cook. More culture. I can sing it now for this bark painting.
This is the way the song goes.
Captain Cook came from Mosquito Island, which is east of New Guinea. He
came with his two wives, a donkey and a nanny goat.
He was a really hard man, he had a hard job to do when he came to Sydney Harbour. He had his business building his barrupa - his boat.
In more recent times when boats came, it came from murldi - Macassans in
white man’s language. But the first boat came from Captain Cook.
From the earliest days Satan lived there too. We call Satan 'ngayang'. It's the
same as a devil. He lived on the other side of the harbour on Sydney Island.
The other side of the harbour is called 'Wanambal',
Satan has feet like a bullock's. He's got horns, see? He had long nails on his
fingers. He also had a devil bone to fight with.
Captain Cook worked by himself on his boat, he used to always be working on his boat.
He would always come back and have his dinner after working on his boat, then he would go to sleep.
But he didn't know that the 'ngayang' was always sneaking up behind his back while he was working. The devil had been talking to his two wives.
One day Satan came behind his back to the wives and said: "I'm going to kill Captain Cook and take the two of you over to that other island. See over there? You two have to come over with me."
Satan said to them: "You dig a well and cover me up with dirt. When he comes back to eat his food I will come out behind him, out of the ground."
When Captain Cook came back to eat his supper, he didn't know. And then Satan, 'ngayang', came out and poked Captain Cook in the back with his bone.
Captain Cook said: "I know you. You're Satan behind my back. I'll turn around and look at you Satan."
Satan said: "I'll fight you and kill you and take your two wives."
"All right. We'll fight, “said Captain Cook.
Satan said: "Have you got power (magic)? If you want to fight me you have to be a clever man!"
"No, I haven't got power." Captain Cook only had a stone axe. “You put that bone down, and I'll put down the axe. We'll wrestle, hand to hand."
So they fought. At first Satan was winning. He threw Captain Cook against the boat he had built. But then Captain Cook grabbed the devil by his throat, he wrapped his arm around his neck and broke it. The 'ngayang' couldn't
move. He was dead.
Captain Cook then grabbed the devil by the scruff of his neck and through his legs and chucked him into the ground - into a hole - as a punishment.
The devil was in a hole in the ground. The hole in the ground is this side of the water. Here.
And motor cars go through there now and come out on the other side of the harbour at Wanambal.
After the fight, Captain Cook went back to his own country, to Mosquito Island. We don't know what happened there. Maybe all his family were jealous.
But they attacked him with a spear. That's the spear in the painting. His own people attacked him.
Captain Cook came back to Sydney Harbour then, and he died from the spear wounds. The old man was sick and he sat down with everything he had and died. And then he was buried there in Sydney Harbour. Underneath. On the island.
I've finished with the story of old Captain Cook. I'm talking now about all the new Captain Cooks.
When the old people died, other people started thinking they could make Captain Cook another way. New people. Maybe all his sons. Too many Captain Cooks.
They started shooting people then. New Captain Cook people. Those are the people that made war when Captain Cook died; because they didn’t care, they didn't know, all those young people.
They are the ones who have been stealing all the women and killing people.
They have made war. War makers, those new Captain Cooks. They fought all the wars. War makers. They fought.
The olden time Captain Cook is dead but all the new people have made trouble.
That old Captain Cook died a long time ago, but new Captain Cooks shot people.
They killed the women, these new people. They called themselves "New Captain Cooks."
I 've got to tell you about the wannaking people. The ones who made war.
The new ones. Mr White, Bill Harney, Mr Sweeney.
They just went after women. All the New Captain Cooks fought the people.
They shot people. Not old Captain Cook: he didn't interfere or make a war.
That last war and the second war. They fought us. And then they made a new thing called "welfare" .
All the New Captain Cook mob came and called themselves "welfare mob".
They wanted to take all of Australia. They wanted it, they wanted the whole lot of this country. All the new people wanted anything they could get.
They could shoot people. New Captain Cook mob!
But now we've got our culture back.
That's all. That's the story now."SignificanceIn this poster featuring one of his bark paintings, Paddy describes events from Australian history which have been recorded from an Indigenous point of view, the Rembarrnga story about Captain Cook. This story weaves parts of European history, Yolngu and Christian and was subsequently recorded in the film 'Too Many Captain Cooks' in 1988.
