The tale of James Cook sailing the Endeavour into Botany Bay is familiar to most Australians.

But 250 years on, the descendants of the Aboriginal people who first spotted the English explorer's ship say the history books got at least part of the story wrong.

Our understanding of the events that unfolded on the afternoon of April 29, 1770 come mostly from the journals of Captain Cook and his crew.

They describe sailing into the harbour and being threatened and warned off by the Indigenous people on the shore.

Sydney Parkinson, a young artist employed on the ship, wrote in his journal that local men made threatening gestures with spears and yelled the words "warra warra wai."

He presumed that the words meant "go away," and so for many years his diary entry defined the story of first contact between Aboriginal people and the British.

Now the Dharawal people are sharing their story.

Deputy chairperson of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council Ray Ingrey. ( ABC News: Elena de Bruijne )

They say the real meaning of those first recorded Indigenous words has been misinterpreted.

"Warra is a root word for either white or dead in our language," said Ray Ingrey, a Dharawal man and La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council deputy chairperson.

"Over time, because of outsiders trying to tell our story for us, it's just being translated into different parts as 'go away'.

"If you are outside our community and trying to look in, you will think it means 'go away' but for us it means 'you're all dead'," he said.

While those words might sound threatening or morbid, Mr Ingrey said it was likely just a warning to other locals at the time.

A sketch of two Indigenous men waving spears at Captain Cook's arriving ship. ( Supplied: Wikimedia )

"When our old people saw the Endeavour coming through, they actually thought it was a low-lying cloud because all they could see was whiteness," he said.

"In Dharawal culture, that low-lying cloud means the spirits of the dead have returned to their country and so they saw almost ghosts.

"So when the two men opposed the landing, they were protecting the country in a spiritual way, from ghosts."

This is the story of first contact that Ray Ingrey wants more Australians to learn and understand.

"There is no taking away of the significance of James Cook, clearly as an amazing explorer. However, history shows that when lands are invaded a lot of the true history is either wiped out or misrepresented," Mr Ingrey said.

"For a long time, our community has been saying that we need to tell our story our way."

Diary of young botanist Joseph Banks who was onboard the HMS Endeavour, he describes the moment of first contact with local Aboriginal people in 1770. ( ABC News: Elena De Bruijne )

He said Dharawal leaders are working with libraries, museums and linguists to re-evaluate some of the European records, and give a new perspective to Australian history.

"When that happens, when we stop people from misrepresenting our ancestors and our own story, we are able to give the broader Australian public a more authentic story and a story that makes sense."

Chance to 'change the story'

Gweagal and Yuin woman, Theresa Ardler, is also on a journey to educate Australians about her ancestors' story from that fateful day 250 years ago.

Gweagal and Yuin woman Theresa Ardler is fighting to reshape Australians' understanding of history. ( ABC News: Elena de )

Written records from Cook's crew make it clear a conflict occurred during that first meeting of two cultures.

Journal entries describe the Aboriginal men threatening the crew, until eventually gunshots are fired at them, but it is not made clear whether the local men lived or died.

Ms Ardler believes she is the descendant of a Gweagal warrior, named Cooman, who was one of two men who defended his country from the British explorers.

She said the oral history of the event passed down by her elders was different to the one in the history books.

"I was in high school in Year 10 studying Cook, and we were reading a book that said the bullets were fired over their heads.

"I remember getting up in my class and saying, 'this is wrong, this is not the true history', because my grandfather was shot.

"I said everyone needs to rip that page out of your book."

Ms Ardler is now fighting for the possible physical evidence of the conflict to be returned to Australian shores.

A bark shield pierced with a bullet hole, named the "Gweagal Shield", now sits in the British Museum.

The British Museum states it is "suggested and not confirmed" that the shield belonged to the warrior Cooman when he was shot at by Cook's landing party.

"We are still waiting to get that shield back," Ms Ardler said. "I want to work on some repatriation [because] it's that very spiritual connection we have with those objects.

"I have deep sadness [leading up to this anniversary] and I've been very much reflecting on my ancestors.

"Our culture is not dead, it is living and thriving decades on."

Captain Cook archives re-imagined

Some of the formative records that have helped shape our understanding of Cook's landing are now being opened up to the public.

The State Library of New South Wales will launch an online exhibition that will, for the first time, digitise some of the journals of those onboard the HMS Endeavour.

The exhibition explores the arrival of the ship and the eight days the crew spent in Botany Bay in 1770, but focuses on the lesser-known "stories from the shore".

"We were trying with this exhibition to get more of a Gweagal perspective on what happened," curator Ronald Briggs said.

"Endeavour and the crew's arrival in Kamay, Botany Bay — it's celebrated, it's commemorated, but it's also contested.

"Many of the records and information we keep in institutions like this one are from a European perspective [and] they had no meaningful understanding of Aboriginal culture at the time."

Loading...

The library worked with the descendants of the Gweagal people to try to reinterpret some of the historical texts.

"With a lot of language recording by non-Indigenous people, there is often confusion about what words actually mean and you know, the cultural perspective in which it's used."

"This is a chance for us to get a better understanding of what really happened, and we can start to get as close to the truth of those events as we possibly can."

The library's exhibition will launch online in the coming weeks, and turn into a physical display when pandemic restrictions are lifted.

The National Museum has partnered with the ABC in an ABC iview series featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people sharing the original names of the places Captain Cook renamed on his voyage of the east coast.

Walking Together is taking a look at our nation's reconciliation journey, where we've been and asks the question — where do we go next?

Join us as we listen, learn and share stories from across the country, that unpack the truth telling of our history and embrace the rich culture and language of Australia's First People.