Horniman repatriates Warumungu artefacts

Central Australian Indigenous artefacts returned from UK after 120 years, ABC News, 25 September 2024

By Anisha Pillarisetty, Meredith Lake and Rani Hayman

Warumungu elders William Ah Kit Jakamarra (left) and Cliff Plummer Jabarula travelled to London for the formal return of sacred objects. (Supplied: AIATSIS).

After more than 120 years, culturally significant artefacts that were taken from Warumungu Country are being returned to the Central Australian community from a United Kingdom museum collection.

A photo of the famous hooked number seven boomerang or Wartilykirri being returned to the Warumungu community. — The famous hooked number seven boomerang, or Wartilykirri, is among the objects being returned. (Supplied: Horniman Museum and Gardens).

Warumungu traditional owners from the Northern Territory desert town of Tennant Creek travelled to London earlier this month to bring the 10 objects back to country.

The objects were handed over by the Horniman Museum and Gardens on September 11 after a formal request from the Warumungu community with the support of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

Traditional owner Ah Kit Jakamarra said it was an emotional time for the Warumungu community.

“These artefacts that the old people sat down and had a look at them and cried about them and said straight away, ‘We want them to come back home,'” Mr Jakamarra said.

“I’m part of a stolen generation and we aren’t accepted in terms like this but with this happening now we’re coming together.”

Warumungu elder Cliff Plummer Jabarula said the Central Australian community was glad to have the objects returned.

“This stuff has been taken away over 120 years ago and [it] going back home is a really special thing,” he said.

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) chief executive and Ngemba man Leonard Hill said it was a unique collection of objects, which included two of the “famous hooked number seven” boomerangs.

“There are a number of knives and sheaths that are also being returned [and] an axe,” Mr Hill said.

“There is a secret men’s object that is also being returned, [and] a spear thrower.

“The significance of material being returned home, back to those communities where that material was created in the first place … is extremely powerful.”

Warumungu elders sitting at table and signing papers at the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London. — William Ah Kit Jakamarra (left) and Cliff Plummer Jabarula at the formal handover of the sacred objects. (Supplied: AIATSIS).

Cultural material ‘taken’ from communities

According to AIATSIS, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural material has been taken from country for over 300 years and kept in overseas collections.

Mr Hill said research showed some of the Warumungu objects were “acquired” by overseas ethnographer Emile Clement and sold to the museum in the early 1900s.

“Other material [in the collection] was also collected over a period of time in the early 20th century, interestingly, from telegraph station masters in the Northern Territory,” Mr Hill said.

“As we find with many items that are held in overseas institutions, there’s a variety of ways and means in which this material has been gathered and appears in collections around the world.

“Some of it is and has been traded or gifted, but often, a lot of the material is taken.”

AIATSIS CEO Leonard Hill stands on stage in a blue suit talking into a microphone — Mr Hill says cultural material in overseas collections has often been taken from Indigenous communities. (Supplied: Jacinta Keefe Photography).

The return of objects is part of the federal government’s Return of Cultural Heritage program run through AIATSIS.

Mr Hill said it was an “extremely important program” that worked with communities to facilitate the repatriation of cultural material.

He said there were various reasons why communities wanted objects returned to country.

“Sometimes communities look for that material to continue to be displayed … for the material to continue to tell a story about that community,” he said.

“Some communities look to repurpose and reimagine the use of that material through song or ceremony.”

Large granite rocks among dry, green plants set against a clear blue sky — Mr Hill says the returning of cultural material is immensely important to communities across the country. (Supplied: Tanith Margetson).

More returns expected

This will be the fourth Warumungu collection to be returned to country since 2022.

In July, 20 culturally significant items were returned to the Warumungu community from the United States, where they were being held in the Fowler Museum at the University of California in Los Angeles.

This followed two other collections being returned from the Auckland War Memorial Museum and Otago Museum in New Zealand in November 2022.

Mr Hill said there were no more planned Warumungu returns in the “immediate pipeline” but he expected the community would see more cultural objects returned.

“We have a Warlpiri delegation travelling to Germany at the end of October that we’re supporting, and a delegation including Kamilaroi community members from New South Wales to Switzerland at the end of November,” Mr Hill said.

“I’m sure we will see more Warumungu material returned in the coming months and years.”

The objects will be temporarily taken to Canberra until they are ready to be received on Country by Warumungu elders in Central Australia, where they will be housed at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Arts and Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek.