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No resolution of Aboriginal ownership

By Bridie Smith

18 August 2004 - Museum Victoria has been unable to secure a meeting with the British institutions that lent disputed Aboriginal artefacts to the Melbourne Museum for its 150th anniversary this year.

It had not been possible to arrange a meeting with British Museum representatives, despite Museums Board of Victoria president Harold Mitchell visiting London this week, Museum Victoria spokeswoman Karen Meehan said yesterday.

It was hoped a meeting might defuse the prickly issue of ownership of two bark etchings and a ceremonial headdress from the 1850s.

Ownership of the three artefacts was challenged last month when a central Victorian Aboriginal group prevented the items returning to Britain by getting an emergency declaration, permitted under federal Aboriginal heritage laws.

"We attempted to organise a meeting with the British Museum but it was unable to be organised," Ms Meehan said. Museum Victoria was not given a reason for the decision.

The stand-off over ownership of the items has intensified over the past month, with all parties seeking legal advice. Museum Victoria says it is contractually obliged to return the items, but the Dja Dja Wurrung people say they should remain here.

The Dja Dja Wurrung have also applied to state Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gavin Jennings for a permanent declaration or compulsory aquisition of the artefacts.

"If they can't meet (in London), then it is back in Gavin Jennings' hands. It is going to be a test to his commitment to cultural heritage in Victoria," Dja Dja Wurrung Native Title Group secretary Gary Murray said.

The loan period for the artefacts expires next month. The items were on loan to Museum Victoria from the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Both institutions have remained in contact with Museum Victoria, Ms Meehan said.

Mr Murray has said his group was willing to "loan back" the artefacts to the British Museum, to avoid legal action.

Ongoing talks have so far failed to find a solution.

"We are in continuing discussions with the (Dja Dja Wurrung) community, with no resolution any time soon, I don't think," Ms Meehan said.

Museum Victoria says the barks were either commissioned works or freely given to John Hunter Kerr in the 1850s. They were later legally acquired by the British institutions after their exhibition in Paris in 1855 at the Universal Exhibition.

Mr Murray said his group would require proof of this.

"I say verify it. Verify that you have legal ownership of these items," he said.

Source: The Age

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