Horniman formally hands over Warumungu artefacts

A handover ceremony has taken place at the Horniman Museum & Gardens in south-east London to mark the return of 10 artefacts to the Warumungu Community in Australia’s Northern Territory.

The repatriation was initiated by the Warumungu Community with the support of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (Aiatsis), a national cultural institution dedicated to the history, culture and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

The organisation’s Return of Cultural Heritage programme works to identify and facilitate the return of cultural heritage material held in overseas collections.

Following a formal request for the materials in 2023, the museum’s trustees received endorsement from the Charity Commission earlier this year to go ahead with the repatriation on moral grounds.

The artefacts include a wurtil (water carrier), ngurrulumuru (pick), marttans (knives), murkutu (sheath), warnanja (axe), wartilykirri (hooked ‘number seven’ boomerangs, including one from the Horniman’s handling collection), and jalkkaji (spear thrower).

The handover ceremony was attended by Warumungu elders Cliff Plummer Jabarula and William (Bill) Ah Kit Jakamarra, along with representatives of Aiatsis and the Horniman Museum.

The items will temporarily be held at Aiatsis in Canberra until the community is ready to receive them on Country [the term used by Aboriginal people to describe the land, seas and waterways to which they are connected]. 

Following their return to Country, the items will be permanently housed at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Arts and Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek.

“Because it’s been taken away from here, we would like to see all those things come back to the area where they were collected,” said senior Warumungu elder, Michael Jones Jampijinpa. 

“They are Warumungu and they need to come back to Warumungu country. We are happy that they’re coming back because all that stuff was taken a long time ago before my time. I want to thank [the museum] for sending those things back to us. They’ve made a choice to send them back to where they belong. It wasn’t them who collected it, it was their ancestors, so I want to thank them.”

The Horniman’s chair of trustees, Michael Salter-Church, said the board of trustees was pleased to have enabled the return.

"It is right these objects are being returned to the Warumungu people, to whom they are of the utmost significance,” said Salter-Church.

“They will support the passing on of Warumungu culture and Lore to future generations. The trustees of the Horniman Museum and Gardens are very pleased to enable their return and are honoured to welcome community elders to Forest Hill for the ceremony.”

Salter-Church said the museum had established a “warm and collaborative relationship” with the community throughout the return process.

“We look forward to continuing this into the future as we connect our visitors and community with global cultures and the natural environment, encouraging us to shape a positive future for the world we all share," he said.

Aiatsis describes the return of cultural heritage material as a key aspiration of First Nations people, which “supports the maintenance and revitalisation of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures”.

The organisation says its approach is grounded in building respectful and productive relationships with both the communities whose material is held abroad and the collecting institutions and collectors who house the materials.

Since 2018, Aiatsis has supported the return of more than 2,200 culturally significant items to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

"I am immensely proud of the work we do at Aiatsis, particularly our work to support the return of cultural heritage material to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities which enables the intergenerational transfer of knowledge, truth-telling and healing for Australia's First Nations people,” said the organisation’s CEO, Leonard Hill.

"I commend the Horniman Museum & Gardens for the care they have taken in conserving this significant cultural material and for their collaboration with Aiatsis and the Warumungu Community to enable its safe return to Country."