Ten culturally significant Indigenous artefacts are returning to Australia from the United Kingdom.
The Horniman Museum and Gardens is returning the items to the Warumungu community of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
The items 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).
Warumungu elder Michael Jones Jampijinpa thanked the Horniman Museum for returning the objects, saying the community was happy they were coming back to Country.
“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," he said.
"They are Warumungu and they need to come back to Warumungu country."
Warumungu elders Cliff Plummer Jabarula and William Ah Kit Jakamarra travelled to London for the return.
The artefacts will be temporarily held at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies until the community is ready to receive them on Country.
Once returned to Country, they will be housed at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Arts and Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek.
In July, 20 objects were returned to Warumungu people from the Fowler Museum at the University of California in the United States.
These objects and the artefacts returned on Wednesday were repatriated through the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Return of Cultural Heritage Program.
Since 2018, the institute has supported the return of more than 2200 culturally significant items to Indigenous communities.
The institute's chief executive Leonard Hill said he was proud of the work to return cultural heritage material to Indigenous communities.
"Today's return of cultural material from the Horniman Museum and Gardens marks an important step towards safeguarding the cultural heritage of the Warumungu Community for future generations," he said.
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said Indigenous communities have long fought for repatriation of cultural heritage from overseas collections.
“Returning these artefacts to Warumungu Country is an acknowledgement of the importance of cultural heritage material to truth-telling and healing, ultimately contributing to a deeper understanding of our story as a nation," she said.
