Natural History Museum returns Indigenous ancestors to Australia

This article was first published by the Museums Association.

London’s Natural History Museum (NHM) held a ceremony on 10 April to mark the return of ancestors to communities in Queensland, Australia.

The ceremony, hosted with Australia’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, Queensland Museum and Traditional Custodians from Queensland communities, involved the return of 36 First Nations ancestors.

Six of the ancestors’ bodies were returned to four Queensland communities – the Woppaburra, the Warrgamay, the Wuthathi and the Yadhighana.

The Australian government will take care of the remaining 30 ancestors’ remains until their traditional custodians can be found.

The remains originated from different sources and were often in other institutions before being transferred to the NHM.