Recent international repatriations

In a moving handover ceremony in London, the remains of 13 Australian Indigenous ancestors were returned by four institutions to traditional owners and representatives from communities in Western Australia, South Australia and to the Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation. The Royal Pavilion and Museums Brighton, the University of Birmingham, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the University of Cambridge from the United Kingdom participated in the official repatriation ceremony.

Media Release — Repatriation of Australian Indigenous ancestral remains

The Hampshire Cultural Trust in Winchester held a ceremony to handover remains of an Australian Indigenous ancestor. Originally removed from Kempsey, the ancestor was up to 2,000 years old and was taken to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. Dunghutti community representatives from Kempsey in New South Wales took custodianship of their ancestor who was returned to Country.

Media Release – Aboriginal ancestral remains return home from the UK  

A private holder in the United States of America returned the remains of a New South Wales Indigenous ancestor to traditional custodians. This ancestor was returned to Country on the north coast of New South Wales.

Media Release—Traditional custodians bring Aboriginal ancestral remains home from the USA.

The Charité University Hospital in Berlin returned the remains of 14 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors to representatives of Indigenous communities in Western Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. This is the second repatriation from the Charité and demonstrates the commitment from Germany to work with Indigenous Australian communities to repatriate ancestral remains.

In a separate ceremony, the Charité also returned a Robbins Island ancestor to traditional custodians of Tasmania. This ancestor was returned to Country and reburied in a private ceremony.

Media Release - Indigenous ancestral remains to return home from Germany.

Tasmanian Aboriginal representatives travelled to the United States of America to receive three ancestors from the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The Museum acquired the ancestral remains in 1958 as part of a collection of artefacts gathered in the late 19th century. The representatives participated in a ceremony and accompanied their ancestors’ home.

The Charité University Hospital in Berlin returned 33 Australian Indigenous ancestors. This was the first return of Australian Indigenous ancestral remains from Germany through the Indigenous Repatriation Program. The ancestors were from communities in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. On return to Australia, 11 ancestors were returned to community in a moving ceremony in far north Queensland.

Media Release—Australian Ancestral remains return home from Germany.

The Moravian Museum in Brno, Czech Republic, held a handover ceremony to return eight Australian Indigenous ancestors belonging to six communities in Arnhem Land. These were the only known Australian Indigenous ancestral remains held in the Czech Republic.

A known Australian Indigenous ancestor from New South Wales was repatriated from the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Washington D.C. The ancestor was held by the Museum since the late 19th century. The ancestor was accompanied home and returned to Country.

Stanford Universityin California returned two Australian Indigenous ancestors to Australia. These ancestors were placed in the temporary care of the National Museum of Australia so further provenance research can be undertaken to determine the communities of origin.

Three Australian Indigenous ancestors from Glasgow Museums and one mummified ancestor from National Museums Liverpool were returned to Australia. The ancestors were placed in the temporary care of the National Museum of Australia so further provenance research can be undertaken to identify a community of origin and a final resting place be determined.

The repatriation of 30 Australian Indigenous ancestors was facilitated from the Austrian Academy of Science and The Pathology and Anatomy Museum in Vienna, Austria. The ancestors were handed back to five traditional owners and custodians from New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The Natural History Museum in London announced they would repatriate over 130 Torres Strait Islander ancestors to their communities of origin. The Natural History Museum returned three Australian Indigenous ancestors after this announcement and another 19 ancestors in November 2011. Other returns will occur as communities are ready.

The National Museums Liverpool returned the ancestral remains of a young Torres Strait Islander child to traditional custodians. The ancestor was returned to Erub (Darnley Island) in the Torres Strait.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC returned nine Australian Indigenous ancestors to representatives from Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land. The ancestors were taken from their burial places during the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land. Traditional owners performed ceremony and accompanied their ancestors’ back to Country.

Media Release: Indigenous traditional owners to bring home remains from the United States