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Tasmanian Commissioner to address British Museums

Statement by ATSIC Commissioner for Tasmania Rodney Dillon

12 September 2002 - The offer by the British Museums Association for me to address their annual conference and exhibition in Manchester is a positive indication that attitudes and behaviours towards Indigenous issues are changing.

The major issues concerning Indigenous peoples, in Australia and in other countries, is the repatriation of human remains stored in museums and institutions in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.

There is no getting away from the real issue. These remains were stolen in the name of science..

Many remains were stolen from burial grounds without reference to their families.. Or to our culture.

I'm not aware of any scientific breakthroughs which followed from examinations or experiments on them. I am pleased to help educate the temporary custodians of my ancestors about our culture and the need for ALL indigenous remains to be returned to their
homelands.

By returning Indigenous human remains, museums and institutions will be assisting Indigenous communities to repair cultures that have been torn apart in the name of science.

Media release from: ASTIC

British museums set to return indigenous human remains

September 15, 2002 - A Tasmanian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commissioner says there are indications British museums are about to return the remains of Australian indigenous people taken from the Territory.

ATSIC commissioner Rodney Dillon has been invited to speak to the British Museums Association annual conference in Manchester.

Mr Dillon says he hopes to educate people about the need to return all indigenous remains to their homelands.

He says the remains were stolen from burial grounds in all parts of Australia.

"I'd say they have got, there's quite a considerable amount from the Northern Territory," he said.

"There's a lot from all round Australia. I'd say South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania are the biggest percentage, because they're the earliest places they started taking remains."

"But there's a lot scattered from around Australia and they're very significant, even if it's just one or two sets of remains, they're very significant for those areas where they've come from."

Source: ABC News

Further information: repatriation issues page - includes news index and external links