As the songs of their aunties rang out from the speakers in the Manchester Museum, three Anindilyakwa women were formally handed back 174 cultural heritage items.
Noeleen Lalara, a senior Anindilyakwa Elder, and emerging leaders, Maicie Lalara and Amethea Mamarika, travelled from Groote Eylandt, approximately 50km north of mainland Australia, to Manchester in the United Kingdom for the repatriation ceremony.
The repatriation is part of the ongoing Return of Cultural Heritage Program lead by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).
Noeleen addressed the audience fighting back tears, she said she was overcome with emotion witnessing the return of the items.
“I’ve got nothing much to say because I’m emotional now, but thank you so much, every one of you, working here, AIATSIS," she said, standing on stage between Maicie and Amethea - the next generation of Anindilyakwa women.
"I’m happy and proud for my people.”
Anindilyakwa women, Noeleen Lalara, Maicie Lalara and Amethea Mamarika will now return home with 174 cultural items.
Leonard Hill, a Ngemba man and acting CEO of AIATSIS said it had been a long journey to get to this point.
Hill said the conversation began three years ago and evolved into an extensive consultation process between the Manchester Museum and the Anindilyakwa Land Council supported by UNESCO, which included Manchester Museum staff visiting Groote Eylandt at the invitation of the Anindilyakwa community.
“This is one of the largest returns we’ve undertaken as a part of the Return of Cultural Heritage Program and of course, the material itself and the importance to the Anindilyakwa community can’t be understated,” Hill told NITV.
“Thankful and grateful to be here, very appreciative of the relationship and the collaboration with Manchester Museum, and of course the Anindilyakwa community who have given us permission to work with Manchester Museum in returning this material.”
Manchester Museum staff were invited to visit Groote Eylandt during the consultation process.
Hill said the Return of Cultural Heritage Program is always community-led.
“We don’t do anything without community being aware of and with an understanding of what we’re looking to do and seeking their permission with how we look to engage with the overseas collecting institutions,” said Hill.
“It is absolutely a community-led process and sometimes that takes a long time.
“We make sure that we work with community and they move at a pace that they’re comfortable with and that’s the pace we move at.”
Hill added he hopes this return will be a catalyst for more mob to pursue items they may have held in institutions around the world.
"Successful events like that today demonstrate that this work can be done in a really genuinely respectful way, where all parties - the overseas institution, the particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and AIATSIS can work collectively and collaboratively around understanding where material is and how we might be able to return it back home to community," said Hill.
Maicie Lalara told NITV she was proud to be in Manchester to witness the return of the items.
“I’m so proud and a little bit emotional because our ancestors left us knowledge, so we’re taking back our knowledge to where it belongs,” said Maicie.
The items, which will now make the long journey home, include ceremonial armbands, turtle shell maps, bark baskets, a model canoe, spears and shell dolls and have been held at the Manchester Museum as part of the Worsley Collection - a collection obtained by anthropologist, Professor Peter Worsley, in the 1950s.
The return of the shell dolls - Dadikwakwa-kwa in the Anindilyakwa language - holds particular significance and has played a part in the revitalisation of culture.
“Our ancestors, a long time ago, used to play with the shell dolls. They used to call them grandmother, grandfather, mum, dad,” said Maicie.
“We went out with the school kids, helping us collect doll shells, and we painted them with the ochre and weaved around the pandanus to make [the dolls] alive.”
On how the items will be received back home, Amethea said the rest of the Anindilyakwa community “can't wait to see the artefacts for our ancestors”.
“When we arrive there, at home on Groote Eylandt, our mob are going to wait there with traditional song to welcome us, our ancestors’ artefacts back home and be where they belong.”
Maicie added this return to home is for their ancestors but also the next generation.
“We’ve got to carry it on," said Maicie.
"We’re the future and we’re going to pass it to the next generation.”
