Image: Horniman Clock Tower (Andrew Lee)
A handover ceremony sees 10 objects formally transferred after a request for their repatriation in 2023.
A collection of artefacts of significant cultural importance to the Warumungu Community of Tennant Creek in Australia’s Northern Territory have been returned today at a formal handover ceremony in London by the Horniman Museum and Gardens.
The transfer of ownership was agreed last month after a formal request in May 2023. The request listed nine Warumungu objects from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), on behalf of the Warumungu community. A tenth object, from the Horniman’s Handling Collection, will also be returned.
The decision of the Horniman Trustees was endorsed by The Charity Commission, as the regulator of the charitable sector, on 7 February 2024, under s 106 of the Charities Act 2011, noting the Trustees’ ‘moral obligation’.
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).
Today’s handover ceremony was attended by Warumungu Elders Cliff Plummer Jabarula and William (Bill) Ah Kit Jakamarra, representatives of AIATSIS and the Horniman Museum, and many distinguished guests.
At the request of the Warumungu Community, the items will temporarily be held at AIATSIS in Canberra, Australia, until the Community is ready to receive them on Country. Following their return to Country, they will be permanently housed at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Arts and Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek.
Mr Michael Jones Jampijinpa, Senior Warumungu Elder, said: “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. 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 (Horniman 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.”
Michael Salter-Church, Chair of Trustees at the Horniman Museum and Gardens, added: “It is right these objects are being returned to the Warumungu people, to whom they are of the utmost significance. They will support the passing on of Warumungu culture and Lore to future generations.
“Throughout the return process, the Horniman has enjoyed a warm and collaborative relationship with all representatives from Australia.”
