Following a welcome to country by Ngunnawal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan, Darren Rix and Craig Cormick’s new book Warra Warra Wai How Indigenous Australians discovered Captain Cook, and what they tell about the coming of the Ghost People, will be launched by Karen Mundine, CEO of Reconciliation Australia.

Then follows a discussion with Darren and Craig, on their book , which tells for the first time, the First Nations story of Cook’s arrival, and what blackfellas want everyone to know about the coming of Europeans. ‘Warra Warra Wai’ was the expression called to Cook and his crew when they tried to make landfall in Botany Bay. It has long been interpreted as ‘Go away’, but is perhaps more accurately translated as ‘You are all dead spirits’

Both 250 years late, and extremely timely, this is an account of what First Nations people saw and felt when James Cook navigated their shores in 1770. We know the European story from diaries, journals and letters. For the first time, this is the other side. Who were the people watching the Endeavour sail by? How did they understand their world and what sense did they make of this strange vision? And what was the impact of these first encounters with Europeans? The answers lie in tales passed down from 1770 and in truth-telling of the often more brutal engagements that followed.

Darren Rix and his co-author Craig Cormick travelled to all the places on the east coast that were renamed by Cook, and listened to people’s stories. With their permission, these stories have been woven together with the European accounts and placed in their deeper context: the places Cook named already had names; the places he ‘discovered’ already had peoples and stories stretching back before time; and although Cook sailed on, the empire he represented impacted the people’s lives and lands immeasurably in the years after.

'You will close this book feeling closer to your country.'– Bruce Pascoe, author of Dark Emu

Darren Rix, a Gunditjmara-GunaiKurnai man with Ngarigo bloodlines, has worked as a radio reporter for the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association, and with the Ngunnawal people as a cultural sites officer in Canberra. Darren is an accomplished musician, as was his uncle, Archie Roach.

Dr Craig Cormick OAM is an award-winning author and science communicator. He has been Chair of the ACT Writers Centre, co-host of the literary podcast Secrets from the Green Room, and has edited several magazines and books. He is drawn to stories of people whose voices have been hidden from history.

The vote of thanks will be given Professor Kate Fullagar, author of the critically acclaimed Bennelong and Phillip (2023)

This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm and again after the event.

Additional information:

Registration is required for this event.

Accessible parking spaces are available around campus should you require them.

To help keep everyone safe, please ensure that you are familiar with, and follow, the advice from ACT Health regarding COVID-19.

If you do not feel well, please refrain from attending this event.

By registering for this event, you are accepting our privacy policy.

A podcast will be made available after the event.

TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C