A British university has given back four spears taken more than 250 years ago from an aboriginal community in Australia by explorer Captain James Cook.

Gweagal descendants are cheering the repatriation of three spears from a British museum and say while the battle to get other precious artefacts back is not over, the tide is turning.

The shield which was taken from the Gweagal people of Botany Bay in 1770 by the crew of the Endeavour, remains a powerful artefact of first contact.

London: In the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum, a guide ushers her semi-circle of mostly American tourists around a pitted, weathered bark shield. She paints a vivid picture for them ...

They're known as the Gweagal spears. RAY INGREY, GUJAGA FOUNDATION: From a cultural standpoint, spears were made in a spiritual way by senior men of our community.

More than 250 years after they were first taken, four spears stolen by Captain James Cook and his crew, after they arrived at Kamay - Botany Bay, have been handed over to their traditional owners.

Four of the 40 or 50 Gweagal spears taken during the British voyagers’ eight-day stay have now gone on public display, 30 kilometres from that historic place of European contact.