"This lesson looks at one of the earliest examples of significant contact between the Aboriginal People of the Sydney region and the European settlers. Governor Phillip was anxious to communicate with the local people and resorted to kidnapping several individuals to achieve this end. Despite being captured and held against his will, Bennelong formed a friendship with Arthur Phillip and proved extremely useful to him by learning English, sharing his cultural knowledge and acting as a mediator between the Aboriginal people and the colonists."