After the early meetings, dancing, and musket demonstrations, the Eora avoided the settlement in Sydney Cove for the first year, but they warned and then attacked whenever colonists trespassed on their lands away from the settlement.[73] Part of Phillip's early plan for peaceful cohabitation had been to persuade some Eora, preferably a family, to come and live in the town with the British so that the colonists could learn about the Eora's language, beliefs, and customs.[74]

By the end of the first year, as none of the Eora had come to live in the settlement, Phillip decided on a more ruthless strategy, and ordered the capture of some Eora warriors. The man who was captured was Arabanoo, from whom Phillip and his officers started to learn language and customs. Arabanoo died in April 1789 of smallpox, which also ravaged the rest of the Eora population.[75] Phillip again ordered the boats to Manly Cove, where two more warriors were captured, Coleby and Bennelong; Coleby soon escaped, but Bennelong remained.[39][75] Bennelong and Phillip formed a kind of friendship, before he too escaped.[75]

Four months after Bennelong escaped from Sydney, Phillip was invited to a whale feast at Manly. Bennelong greeted him in a friendly and jovial way. Phillip was suddenly surrounded by warriors and speared in the shoulder by a man called Willemering. He ordered his men not to retaliate.[76][77] Phillip, perhaps realising that the spearing was in retaliation for the kidnapping, ordered no actions to be taken over it. Friendly relations were reestablished afterwards, with Bennelong even returning to Sydney with his family.

So it was just a small friendly stabbing.

The dude kidnaps/enslaves three of their warriors and casually accepts their invitation to diplomatic parley.

The natives had a simpler solution to his reign of terror.

That’s how you say thanks to a little friendly kidnapping.

I still like the "No no, my fault, we did kidnap three of them after all. Now, is all this unpleasantness behind us? Excellent. Might I ask you again to move into our village so we can get to know each other better?" attitude. The natives must have been so confused.

Relations with indigenous peoples
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Phillip's official orders with regard to Aboriginal people were to "conciliate their affections", to "live in amity and kindness with them", and to punish anyone who should "wantonly destroy them, or give them any unnecessary interruption in the exercise of their several occupations".[72] The first meeting between the colonists and the Eora, Aboriginal people, happened in Botany Bay. When Phillip went ashore, gifts were exchanged, thus Phillip and the officers began their relationship with the Eora through gift-giving, hilarity, and dancing, but also by showing them what their guns could do.[73][39] Anyone found harming or killing Aboriginal people without provocation would be severely punished.[39]

Let's be fair, the guy was enlightened for his time. Even the kidnappings, looked at it from the greater picture, were understandable. Remember that this was the age of press gangs and nonexistent human rights. He was literally trying to preserve the Aborigines and their society. I don't know how many people would keep calm and forgive their attackers while being stabbed by a spear.

I kinda sideeye these claims when he was outdone by the conciliatory efforts of literal genocidal maniac batman

I don't know how many people would keep calm and forgive their attackers while being stabbed by a spear.

Seems at least possible that he understood about non-fatal spearing being a normal form of justice.

I'll never understand explorers and colonial leaders' tendency to kidnap natives.

In my region, Jacques Cartier did this to friendly people for no fucking good reason and naturally caused them to turn hostile and it caused the failure of France's earliest colonization attempt.

It makes total sense. "He says you treated him well and that you're friends now, but don't you fucking try that again"