By Hannah Story October 6, 2023
Read the original article here on SMH website
Thirty Aboriginal cultural objects from Sydney and surrounding coastal areas have returned to Australia for the first time in more than 200 years, but only temporarily.
Collected from coastal NSW including Port Jackson and Botany Bay between the 1790s and the 1890s, the objects range from boomerangs, clubs and shields to a workbox believed to be the only surviving bark container of its type, which was used to carry food and tools such as fishing lines and hooks.
Noeleen Timbery from the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council with a bark container. CREDIT – BROOK MITCHELL
“These objects are ancient, and can tell a really expansive history of this nation,” says Noeleen Timbery, co-curator and co-researcher, and chairperson of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. “These things shouldn’t be forgotten about. They should be brought out and they should be celebrated and honoured.”
The objects were chosen over two years by members of the La Perouse community including the land council and the Gujaga Foundation, from the collections of five institutions in the UK, including the British Museum and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.
The objects come to Sydney as part of an exhibition at the State Library of NSW titled Wadgayawa Nhay Dhadjan Wari, which means “they made them a long time ago” in Dharawal language. After the exhibition closes, they will be returned to museums in the UK.
“These objects are ancient, and can tell a really expansive history of this nation,” says Noeleen Timbery, co-curator and co-researcher, and chairperson of the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. “These things shouldn’t be forgotten about. They should be brought out and they should be celebrated and honoured.”
The objects were chosen over two years by members of the La Perouse community including the land council and the Gujaga Foundation, from the collections of five institutions in the UK, including the British Museum and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge.
The objects come to Sydney as part of an exhibition at the State Library of NSW titled Wadgayawa Nhay Dhadjan Wari, which means “they made them a long time ago” in Dharawal language. After the exhibition closes, they will be returned to museums in the UK.
Timbery recalls seeing some of the objects, including a spearthrower and a string bag, while visiting the British Museum and the Cambridge museum in 2017. “It made me think about what else could be out there,” she says. “Objects get lost in the backs of museums, and they get forgotten about until people are actually looking for them.”
Research by the Australian National University, British Museum and others has found that there are approximately 39,000 Aboriginal cultural objects in the UK and Ireland, across more than 70 museums.
A string bag dated before 1821, held by the British Museum.
Little information is known about many of the objects, including how they came to be in each museum and whether they were stolen or traded.
It is hoped that returning objects to country, even temporarily, could help the Aboriginal community, museums and the wider public to learn more about them. When they become accessible to Aboriginal peoples, Timbery says, “We’re able to add to their story; we’re able to breathe new life into them.”
Maria Nugent from the Australian National University, who led research on the project, explains that exhibitions like Wadgayawa Nhay Dhadjan Wari can be the beginnings of ongoing relationships between Aboriginal peoples and museums: “Museums are interested in long-term relationships that are facilitated by sending objects back. That relationship doesn’t end when the objects return [to the museum].”
Timbery recalls seeing some of the objects, including a spearthrower and a string bag, while visiting the British Museum and the Cambridge museum in 2017. “It made me think about what else could be out there,” she says. “Objects get lost in the backs of museums, and they get forgotten about until people are actually looking for them.”
Research by the Australian National University, British Museum and others has found that there are approximately 39,000 Aboriginal cultural objects in the UK and Ireland, across more than 70 museums.
Little information is known about many of the objects, including how they came to be in each museum and whether they were stolen or traded.
It is hoped that returning objects to country, even temporarily, could help the Aboriginal community, museums and the wider public to learn more about them. When they become accessible to Aboriginal peoples, Timbery says, “We’re able to add to their story; we’re able to breathe new life into them.”
Maria Nugent from the Australian National University, who led research on the project, explains that exhibitions like Wadgayawa Nhay Dhadjan Wari can be the beginnings of ongoing relationships between Aboriginal peoples and museums: “Museums are interested in long-term relationships that are facilitated by sending objects back. That relationship doesn’t end when the objects return [to the museum].