Reconciliation Rocks Commemoration Park

The Reconciliation Rocks masterplan is designed as a commemorative landscape to interpret this first act of reconciliation between Indigenous Australians and European explorers and establish a cultural space that informs visitors of the significance of the event that occurred on this site. The project involved close communication and collaboration with representatives of the Waymburr Warra people, of the Guugu Yimithirr Nation who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which Cooktown sits, and the local council.

Other than the rocks themselves, two oversized artworks form the centre pieces of the precinct and have been carefully designed and placed. The two artworks focus on the central story of the Waymburr Warra Elder, referred to in Cook’s journals as ‘The Little Old Man’ who instigated the first recorded act of reconciliation by approaching Cook and his crew with a broken spear while performing the Ngaala-ngun Daama – a traditional way of welcoming visitors to their land.

The masterplan utilises the existing main spine axis which follows the old railway line linking together an informal amphitheatre, pathways and interpretive artwork whilst orientating views and movement to the Rocks, the centrepieces of the plan.

The site has been nominated for inclusion on the National Heritage List.

Cook Journal Entry:

“We now returned the darts we had taken from them, which reconciled everything.”
James Cook, 19 July 1770