The Warumungu community of Tennant Creek gathered at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre on Thursday to celebrate the return of 40 culturally significant items from four international museums; a momentous occasion marking the culmination of years of collaboration between the Warumungu community, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) and collecting institutions internationally.
The collections - returned from Tamaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum (NZ), Tūhura Otago Museum (NZ), Fowler Museum at UCLA (USA) and Horniman Museum and Gardens (UK) - include ceremonial and everyday items such as Wirli or Ngurrulumuru (fighting pick), Marttan (stone knife), Kupija (adze), Wartilykirri (hooked boomerang) and restricted men's sacred items.
These items were originally acquired in the early 1900s through collectors including Walter Baldwin Spencer, Francis Gillen and James Field. The Fowler Museum's collection also includes items acquired via the Wellcome Trust in 1965.
Senior Warumungu Elder Michael Jones Jampin, who was instrumental to all four returns said Traditional Owners were glad to see the items returned home.
"This is where they're gone from, and we wanted to bring it back [onto Country] so we can pass it on and teach our young ones about traditional things, like hunting and other sacred things," he said.
"We've still got songs and all that, that is important as back-up, but we are happy to see the objects returned and we're glad the museums wanted to give them back."
AIATSIS accompanied Warumungu representatives on international delegations to Aotearoa/NZ, the United States (part of Turtle Island), and the United Kingdom between 2022 to 2024, where formal handover ceremonies were held with museum staff and local custodians.
The collections have been temporarily stored at AIATSIS in Canberra, as directed by Senior Warumungu men, until renovations at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre were complete.
With the centre now ready to care for and display the items, they have been returned to Country, where they will be preserved and shared with future generations.
"At AIATSIS, we tell the story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia and to support cultural resurgence," said AIATSIS chief executive Leonard Hill.
"The return of these Warumungu items is a powerful example of our purpose in action; restoring cultural heritage to its rightful custodians and strengthening the connection between people, place and history.
"AIATSIS is proud to have worked alongside the Warumungu community and our international partners across several years to make this On-Country Return Event possible. Repatriation is about restoring relationships, honouring cultural authority and supporting communities to care for their heritage on their own terms."
AIATSIS's Return of Cultural Heritage program supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in locating, reclaiming and caring for cultural heritage held overseas. AIATSIS noted it is committed to supporting the growing global movement to restore cultural heritage to Indigenous communities and has been at the forefront of international repatriation efforts.
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Minister for Indigenous Australians, congratulated Warumungu Elders and AIATSIS "for their hard work over many years to bring these culturally significant items home to Warumungu Country".
"After being temporarily cared for at AIATSIS in Canberra, I'm pleased these important items will now be on display and looked after at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre in Tennant Creek," she said.
"The Albanese Government is proud to invest in the AIATSIS-led Return of Cultural Heritage program, which facilitates the safe return of cultural heritage material held in overseas collections."
