On the morning of Sunday, 29 April 1770, as Lieutenant James Cook and his landing party came close to the shoreline at Kundall (the Dharawal name that Kurnell derives from), they heard the words warra warra wai shouted at them. These words were accompanied by threatening gestures with spears raised by two Gweagal warriors. The warriors threw stones and the spears at the landing party. The spears didn’t hit their targets because they were only meant to scare them away. Cook and his party responded by firing at the warriors multiple times, injuring one of them.

The words warra warra wai were later assumed to have meant “go away”. However, it actually means “you are all dead” as, from a spiritual perspective, the Aboriginal people who witnessed the arrival of Cook thought the sailors were spirits travelling back from the afterlife. This perspective is entrenched in local Dharawal Dreaming stories, which contained tales of the return of guwinj (spirit or ghost) from the afterlife, travelling in low-lying clouds.

This was one of the main reasons that, in the 8 days that the Endeavour was in Gamay (later named Botany Bay), the local Aboriginal people avoided contact with Cook and his crew, despite numerous attempts to engage. In Dharawal culture, contact with strangers or spirits from the afterlife caused spiritual consequences and was mostly avoided.

Fast forward 18 years, with ships from the First Fleet arriving in Gamay. The reception was similar to Cook and his crew: local Aboriginal people called out warra warra wai, gesturing for the Europeans to go away.

When the colony was established, the term warra continued to be used to identify soldiers, settlers and convicts.

Courtesy the State Library of New South Wales and the Gujaga Foundation.