A British museum on Tuesday returned four Australian Aboriginal skulls collected 100 years ago to representatives of the communities from which they came.
A delegation of Aboriginal elders accepted the remains of their ancestors during a ceremony at the Manchester Museum in north-west England.
The University of Manchester and the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action (Faira), had earlier agreed the repatriation of the skulls, removed from Australia during colonial times.
”This will end the practice of scientific investigations and maintaining Aboriginal ancestors in cardboard boxes, plastic bags and vaults in museums,” said Bob Weatherall from Faira.
Tristram Besterman, director of the Manchester Museum, said the act of returning the skulls recognised ”our common humanity”.
”The Manchester Museum cannot atone for the wrongs of our own forebears at a time when different values prevailed,” he said.
”Nonetheless, by returning these remains now, we hope to contribute to ending the sense of outrage and dispossession felt by Australian Aborigines today.”
Major Sumner, a traditional custodian from the Ngarrindjeri nation in South Australia, said: ”The torment is ended; we now put an end to the torment.”
The elders will return the remains to their traditional homelands in the state of Victoria.
On The Net:
Faira/
Manchester Museum/
Ngarrindjeri campaign – Sapa-AP