'Momentous day' as Aboriginal ancestors' remains repatriated in Arnhem Land

At a remote burial ground in Arnhem Land, nine Aboriginal ancestors have finally been laid to rest, following a rare and historic repatriation ceremony aimed at helping to heal the "wrongs of the past".The remains of the Yolŋu ancestors were taken from the Northern Territory between 85 and 90 years ago by University of Melbourne anthropologist Donald Thomson.In the decades since then, they had been sitting in a collection in Victoria, until new provenance research helped connect them back to their Arnhem Land communities.Djambawa Marawili (left) says the ceremony is important to show younger generations "we can bring our ancestors back through the same song cycles and ceremonies of our forefathers". (ABC News: Matt Garrick)By the waters of Blue Mud Bay in Bäniyala, the Maḏarrpa clan hosted a ceremony yesterday to mark the end of a years-long process to bring their ancestors home.The ashes of the remains were placed in larrakitj (log coffins) and buried on top of a hill, a Christian cross above them, as the community's men sang the ancestral beings back onto their sacred land.Maḏarrpa clan leader and renowned artist Djambawa Marawili, who was at the forefront of advocating for the repatriation, said it was a momentous day for Yolŋu people.The ancestors' ashes were placed in traditional log coffins and buried on top of a hill. (ABC News: Matt Garrick)"We need to show our young ones, so they know some of our ancestral heritage was taken away and stored on other people's country," he said."We need to show the future generations our culture has remained, and we can bring our ancestors back through the same song cycles and ceremonies of our forefathers."Melbourne University Laureate Professor Marcia Langton, who has also been a long-term advocate for the repatriation of sacred and secret cultural objects, attended the Bäniyala ceremony and said the remains should never have been removed."The importance of returning ancestors and secret or sacred objects to clans and homelands cannot be underestimated," she said."They should not have been taken in the first place and have been held for too long in the so-called care of institutions, too far away from their families and clans."Global push to return sacred objectsMelbourne University interim vice-chancellor Glyn Davis also called on institutions globally to follow suit in returning secret and sacred objects to their ancestral homes."The return of ancestors to country is a profound responsibility for universities and collecting institutions in Australia and worldwide," Professor Davis said.Glyn Davis says the return of ancestors to country "is a profound responsibility for universities and collecting institutions". (ABC News: Matt Garrick)"Universities are now confronting the legacies of collecting practices centuries ago."We will work with communities for as long as necessary so ancestors and cultural heritage material can be returned to the places, families and custodians where they belong."In a bid to get its message out to institutions around the world, the university will today send translated statements detailing the Bäniyala ceremony to institutions in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Indonesia, Norway, Italy and the Czech Republic.University stands by complex legacyMelbourne University has held Aboriginal remains and sacred cultural objects in its collection since the 1870s, and is now in the process of trying to repatriate many of them to dozens of communities across Australia.The university's deputy vice-chancellor (Indigenous), Barry Judd, said it was a chance to acknowledge "the wrongs of the past [and] to strengthen and heal for a better future".Melbourne University has acknowledged the "great injustice" of the past practice of taking remains for study. (ABC News: Matt Garrick)Including the ceremony in Bäniyala, 14 ancestors have been returned to the Maḏarrpa, Dhaḻwaŋu, Djapu, Dhuḏi-Djapu, Marrakulu and Maŋgalili clans in north-east Arnhem Land over the past week.The remains were all originally collected by renowned Australian anthropologist Donald Thomson.Professor Thomson travelled widely in remote Arnhem Land, Far North Queensland and Central Australia in the first half of last century, as well as across the Pacific, to learn about the social lives of their remote residents.The remains of the Yolŋu ancestors were taken from the Northern Territory between 85 and 90 years ago. (ABC News: Matt Garrick)The University of Melbourne has continued to pay its respects to Professor Thomson's legacy in academia and as a friend and advocate for Aboriginal people, while at the same time acknowledging his outdated practice of taking remains did a "great injustice" to impacted communities."The Donald Thomson Collection is of immense significance to Aboriginal peoples, and its value to researchers in Australia and internationally concerned with understanding human diversity cannot be underestimated," Professor Langton said.Gilirryunmarrtji Marawili was among the Bäniyala men particicipating in the ceremony who were painted in gapan (clay). (ABC News: Matt Garrick)Assembled by Professor Thomson at the university between 1928 and 1965, his collection comprised more than 10,000 objects, alongside photographs, films, audio recordings, field notes, journals, maps and natural science specimens.