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Aboriginal Culture Cooktown
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Wanhtharra nyundu! Welcome to our country!
Cooktown lies in Guugu Yimithirr country, a tribal nation which stretched from the Annan River, south of Cooktown, to Princess Charlotte Bay in the north. This is one of the Cape’s forty-one tribal nations, each having its distinct language, history, culture, bush foods and bush medicines.
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History & Culture
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Mary Watson
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Mary Beatrice Watson, nee Phillips, was born in the Cornish town of Truro, England. During the mid 1870's, her family emigrated to Queensland. While working in Cooktown, Mary met Captain R.F. Watson, a beche-de-mer fisherman. The couple married in Cooktown on 30 May 1880. They moved to Lizard Island where their son, Ferrier, was born in 1881. Their homestead was apparently built on an Aboriginal sacred site. It is widely believed that this provoked the attack on the holding.
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The Normanby Woman
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Mystery and intrigue surround the origins of the 'Normanby Woman'. Over the years, fact and fiction have mingled. Here is one rendition of the story.
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Cook's Landing - Fast Facts
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It is little known that when the Endeavour struck the reef, 23 hours passed before she was floated off, everyone on board took their turn at manning the pumps, falling down exhausted before another took his place. What else happened to the crew in Cooktown.......
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Chinese monument
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Unveiling the Chinese monument
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H.M.B. Endeavour - Reconciliation Rocks
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“It was here on these rocks that a group of eleven Guugu Yimithirr men and James Cook and several of his companions reconciled their differences and restored the peace and friendship that was the defining nature of the European’s seven weeks stay in Endeavour River.”
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Parkinson's Word List
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First translations of the Guugu Yimithirr language
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Grassy Hill - The Lighthouse
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Cooktown was established in 1873, but no beacon guided ships through the reef until the lighthouse was built in 1886. It was supplied by Chance Brothers Ltd, England, and for years was one of only four along the Queensland coast.
Small lighthouses were staffed by a lone keeper who announced the arrival of ships by raising a flag. At midday a time ball was dropped from the signal staff.
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Grassy Hill - The Radar Station
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Just as Captain Cook had found Grassy Hill such a natural vantage point, so the aspect proved a natural option for new communication and detection technologies as they were developed.
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The Story of Mungurru and Wahalumbaal birri
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How Mungurru (the rock python) made the Wahalumbaal birri (the Endeavour River) from the book Aboriginal Tales from Queensland's Endeavour River by Tulo Gordon
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