A research project has reunited Menang cultural knowledge, practices and artefacts dispersed across Australia and the world, bringing them together on Country in southern Western Australia for the first time.

The Australian Research Council-funded Entangled Knowledges: Kaartdijin, Science and History in the Robert Neill Collection project brought Menang knowledge holders together with scientists, historians and museum curators to reconnect collections and knowledge separated from Country since the 19th century.

Led by Deakin University historian Professor Tiffany Shellam, the six-year project developed a Kaartdijin (or knowledge) sharing model that placed Menang voices and expertise at the centre of the research. It examined fish, mammals, plants, portraits, paintings and cultural objects collected with the assistance and knowledge of Menang ancestors alongside early visitors and researchers, including 19th-century colonist Robert Neill.

Professor Shellam said reconnecting the dispersed collections had enabled knowledge associated with the objects to be returned to community.

"This dispersed collection is rich with Menang kaartdijin (knowledge). Through the kaartdijin model of participatory cross-cultural and cross-sector collaboration, we've returned language, stories, taxonomic knowledge and fishing practices to the Menang community," Professor Shellam said.

"This is more than a scientific or historical collection. Through collaborative knowledge sharing and cultural exchange, traditional knowledge is not simply preserved - it is practised, shared and adapted across generations, ensuring cultural continuity into the future."

The research has culminated in Kalyagul: Connections to Menang Country, an exhibition at the Museum of the Great Southern in Albany, bringing together objects from the WA Museum and contemporary material created by Menang community members with cultural objects held in national and international collections, reuniting some materials for the first time since they left Country.

Co-curator and Menang woman Shona Coyne, manager of First Nations public engagement at the National Museum of Australia, said the project provided an opportunity to address gaps created by the historical removal of Menang knowledge and cultural materials.

"There are gaps in our shared history, important chapters have been overlooked or left untold. I see this project as an opportunity to help fill some of those gaps, through truth telling, while also celebrating the resilience, strength and endurance of Menang peoples," Ms Coyne said.

"This is not just an Aboriginal story. It is the history of this place, a shared history that belongs to all of us.

"When people understand the full history of this place, it creates opportunities for greater respect, deeper understanding and stronger relationships between the First Nations people of this place and the wider community."

The project is also helping revitalise cultural practices within the Menang community.

Knowledge reconnected through the Robert Neill collection is being used in toolmaking, kangaroo skin cloak making and emu feather ornament making, with community workshops supporting its transfer to younger generations.

Professor Shellam said the work also challenged the historical dominance of Western scientific perspectives in natural history collections.

"The exhibition contributes to growing knowledge about biocultural collections in natural history museums and supports new museum practices that advocate for cultural diversity and community collaboration," she said.

"At a time when we are reckoning with Australia's relationship with First Nations communities, this history of reciprocal relationships and their legacy is especially important.

"The timing of the exhibition is also significant, with 2026 marking 200 years since British colonisation."

WA Museum chief executive Alec Coles said Menang people played a central role in building early knowledge of the Great Southern's environment.

"In the 1840s, Menang people shared their kaartdijin (knowledge) with early visitors and researchers, guiding the study of local waters by helping to catch, preserve and name fish," Mr Coles said.

"The exhibition honours the important role of Menang community members in identifying, naming and understanding the plants and animals of the Great Southern region."

Mr Coles said the exhibition's name reflected the continuing importance of that knowledge.

"Kalyagul, a Menang word, means always, ever, continuing and crystalises our belief that whilst Menang knowledge has evolved over millennia, it continues to inform us today, and will continue to do so in the future."

Kalyagul: Connections to Menang Country is on display at the Museum of the Great Southern in Albany until February 2027.