Ormond-Parker, Lyndon --- "Aboriginal Remains Return Home" [2003] IndigLawB 23; (2003) 5(24) Indigenous Law Bulletin 4
Aboriginal Remains Return Home
by Lyndon Ormond-Parker
On 7 April 2003 the Royal College of Surgeons in London (‘the College’) officially handed over 60 Aboriginal human remains to Aboriginal representatives, who had travelled to Britain to collect the remains and return them to Australia.
At the official ceremony the College’s Chief Executive Officer read a short statement on behalf of their Australian President, Sir Peter Morris:
Today sees the culmination of a very fruitful and positive dialogue between the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission [‘ATSIC’] and its recognised agency the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action [‘FAIRA’].
We have come to recognise that the culture of the Aboriginal Australian is very different to British culture. It is very important to an Aboriginal Australian that their body and their ancestors’ bodies are returned to the land from which they arose. Staff from the College and FAIRA have been working together over the last year to identify correctly the aboriginal remains in the Museum's holdings so that they can be returned to the right community and location.
The Aboriginal delegation included FAIRA representative, Mr Bob Weatherall, and two traditional custodians, Mr Major Sumner (Ngarrindjeri) and Mr Henry Atkinson (YortaYorta). They thanked the Royal College for allowing their ancestors to return home and expressed their wish that other institutions and museums in Britain would also allow for the return of Aboriginal remains.
On arrival in Canberra ATSIC commissioner Rodney Dillon said:
They have been absent for a century or more, the remains are not complete, but now at least their spirits have returned ... The trade in our remains was once vigorous and prolonged - it happened within the memory of people still alive. There were those who made a living from taking our remains. Our graves were robbed. Some of us were murdered to order. Imagine how the spirits of those returned must now feel, their graves violated, their people dispersed and dispossessed over the period of their absence.
And what would they think of the country they're returning to, where their descendants are still second class citizens and their traditional lands continue to be degraded and desecrated? Today is a happy occasion, but repatriations such as this also stir up powerful emotions. They remind us of the profound sadness underlying many Indigenous lives.
The College, after many years of lobbying by organisations such as ATSIC, FAIRA and the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, reviewed their policy in 2001. They subsequently allowed for repatriation of Aboriginal remains to Australia. The repatriation was facilitated by FAIRA as part of its ongoing project of documenting Aboriginal human remains held in overseas institutions.
Lyndon Ormond-Parker has worked in Australia and the United Kingdom on documentation projects and repatriation issues since 1996.