Botany Bay in Sydney, Australia has had human habitation for thousands of years. But when Captain James Cook led arrived in 1770 with his British ship HMS Endeavour, it changed its direction greatly. Here, Spencer Striker tells us about what happened after the British arrived – and its negative effect on the native Aboriginal communities.
Botany Bay, a watercolour by Charles Gore from the late 1780s.
A penal colony
Back in 1770, the British, under the command of Lieutenant James Cook, landed in Australia for the first time, in what is known as the Botany Bay. Thus far, the land belonged to many Aboriginal tribes who were indigenous and were believed to reside there for the previous 5,000 years. This landing of the British in the island marked a historical turning point, from which onwards Australia was considered a profitable colony for the British Empire. What attracted the British were the wide variety of flora and fauna, and Cook decided to name the bay Botany Bay, for its botanical biodiversity. An interesting fact that is relatively unknown, is that the land was not used as a plantation as many colonies were, but as a place where convicts and prisoners of the British Empire were relocated, but not under any restrictions. Practically, the British were said to use Botany Bay as a place to 'dump convicts' and other felons, for British reasons and interests, one of which included lumbering, despite the harm this caused to the native populations and the natural habitat.
The rich resources
Like the plantation colonies of the Caribbean islands, the Australian colonies were results of the ‘push and pull’ factors of competitive capitalism. The needs of the huge empire were enormous, and Australia's rich land, with untouched forests and natural resources, was valuable for the capitalist interests of the time. The colonizing processes included mining, agricultural activities, lumbering of the forests, and the usage of the large water resources. However, it is important to understand the strategic significance of the colonization of Australia, as a position that facilitated remote control over the "Indo-China trade routes”. Upon arrival, the economic system they established in the natives’ land was liberal, claiming the land for the financial interests of Britain, and the Crown. The relocation of the convicts in Australia saved the need for social reform in Britain. Another colonizing factor could be considered the widely accepted philosophy of spreading ‘European’ socio-political and cultural influence over foreign territories, across borders and boundaries.
Terra Nullius
When the British colonizers came, they considered the land ‘terra nullius’, which means 'empty land', and is a term used in post-colonial studies to explain the colonizer's ideology behind colonization and indigenous genocide. By considering land empty, the British considered the indigenous tribes of Australia less than humans, and they justified their atrocities against them for the sake of their Empire. It can be seen that this philosophy of 'terra nullius' has an enormous impact on Australia since the descendants of these Aboriginal natives still suffer from racism. The Aboriginals, however, were very advanced culturally, and their existence revolved around spirituality and tribal practices in "respect for the sanctity of life." By considering the land empty, the settlers reduced the Aboriginals to the state of ‘bare life’, a concept used to describe how people stripped of their human rights are treated exceptionally, not very different from animals. In addition to that, this imperialist concept also denoted that the lands were declared British property, and the treatment of the natural habitat and environment fell under the hands of the Empire. Therefore, the Australian land suffered from ecocide, as well, as thoughtless wasting of the natural resources and exhaustive cultivation of land, along with deforestation, led to the damage of its natural diversity.
A case of genocide
In contrast to the colonialists, the tribes were peaceful, and whatever conflicts arose “didn’t result in warfare.” With the arrival of the British, a physical genocide of the Native population was practically inevitable, since diseases foreign to the land were devastating for the population. However, the British effectively forged a chemical and physical war against the Natives by importing dangerous viruses. Death was obliterating the Native population, with diseases such as "smallpox, syphilis, typhoid, whooping cough, diphtheria, tuberculosis, measles, dysentery, and influenza." The British settlers’ chauvinistic approach caused not only the death of vast numbers of the native population, but it also resulted in a sort of cultural genocide, or as is referred to in post-colonial studies, an "ontological violence" that did not allow room for the bare existence of the Native population in their own land. Similar cases of colonization and genocide took place in the New World, with the arrival of Columbus in America in 1492. The very same "dispossession, with ruthless destructiveness" of the land, their people, and their culture shaped the future of the continent in ways difficult to untangle.
The history of this colonization is recorded in detail, but rarely is the side of the Aboriginal people represented, for whom this first encounter with the British was in fact an invasion of their land. Revisiting historical archives can always shed light on shadowy historical events, and it has been giving voice to the under-represented people, who can now come into the center of the hegemonic representation and tell their story as well.
Jiemba and the Death of the Rainbow Serpent
Jiemba is a fictitious character of the Eora tribe, who were the Aboriginal people around Sydney, and they even had sub-tribes with variations in languages. They used to call the Botany bay 'the blue bay' and they have been native to their land since their development and domination over animals. Their civilization was blooming, until the British came with their ship "bringing with them sickness and aggression."
Jiemba's story starts around 1795, although the very first 'white men' as he calls them were spotted seven years before.
With the help of the newly-published book History Adventures, World of Characters Revolutions & Industrialization, 1750 – 1900 by Spencer Striker, we get a glimpse of what it was like for a common aboriginal man to witness the first British ship arrival. Through the story of Jiemba, the indigenous witness, we can get closer to a wider view of the events, that represents both parties and allows us to see the complex history of the colonization of Australia by the great power that Britain was.
More on Spencer’s book:
History is a fascinating subject, so why is it that so many students struggle with it? It's because of the way it is taught. Just being pumped full of names, events, and dates takes all the real meaning out of it. It's the stories and characters behind the happenings that make it memorable, which is what makes Spencer Striker PhD's interactive digital history book, History Adventures, World of Characters, Revolutions & Industrialization, 1750 – 1900, so interesting.
Sources
Agamben, G. Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life. Trans. Daniel Heller-Roazen. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998.
Banner, Stuart. "Why Terra Nullius-Anthropology and Property Law in Early Australia." Law & Hist. Rev. 23 (2005): 95.
Genger, Peter. "The British Colonization of Australia: An Exposé of the Models, Impacts, and Pertinent Questions." Peace and Conflict Studies 25.1 (2018): 4. p. 2.
Gillen, Mollie. "The Botany Bay decision, 1786: convicts, not empire." The English Historical Review 97.CCCLXXXV (1982): 740-766.
Spencer Striker, PhD. History Adventures, World of Characters Revolutions & Industrialization, 1750 – 1900. 2020 [Online] https://books.apple.com/us/book/history-adventures-world-of-characters/id1505237819?ls=1
