Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al-Houthi: We find ourselves in the most sacred battle and the greatest position. We do not consider the sacrifices to be wasted losses; rather, we have given everything for the sake of this stance.
Al-Houthi: The Zionist scheme is undoubtedly a plot to enslave and exploit this nation. This is a fact, not an exaggeration.
Al-Houthi: Great sacrifice in the path of God only increases our steadfastness, determination, certainty, resilience, and cohesion.
Al-Houthi: The Zionist crime confirms the importance of Yemen's conscious and insightful position based on constants, values, and human ethics.
Al-Houthi: The Israeli enemy is a criminal who proves its brutality and monstrosity through all its criminal practices, void of any controls.
Al-Houthi: The Israeli enemy's record is one of terrible and horrific crimes, full of bloodshed against the Palestinian people and people in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
Al-Houthi: The crime of targeting ministers and civilian workers adds to the Israeli enemy's criminal record in the region.
Al-Houthi: All of the martyrs were ministers working in civilian fields.
Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi: We extend our sincerest condolences to all the martyrs' families, their loved ones, their colleagues, and our dear people.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: An Israeli drone targeted a residential apartment in the al-Natour Square in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City

Manchester Museum returns 174 Indigenous objects to island

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News Websites
  • 5 Sep 2023 22:16
4 Min Read

The return of the artifacts to the Indigenous Australian community has been hailed as a leading example of cultural repatriation.

  • x
  •  Manchester Museum returns 174 Indigenous objects to island
    The museum is returning to the Anindilyakwa tribe items like shell dolls, baskets, fishing spears, and maps (Manchester Museum)

A UK museum is returning more than 174 artifacts to an Indigenous Australian community.

The return of the relics by the Manchester Museum is important because most repatriation programs involve holy or ceremonial items. Frequently, the artifacts are thought to be stolen or taken under terrible circumstances.

This time, the museum is returning to the Anindilyakwa tribe's everyday items like shell dolls, baskets, fishing spears, boomerangs, and maps.

The Anindilyakwa people live on an archipelago in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off Australia's northern coast. The group consists of around 1,600 people and is made up of 14 clans that are the traditional proprietors of the Groote Archipelago's land and waters.

Aboriginal Australians are considered one of the oldest continuously existing cultures on the globe. They first populated the continent about 65,000 years ago.

Read more: Australia sets October 14 for Aboriginal referendum date

"We believe this is the future of museums," said Esme Ward, the director of Manchester Museum called it the future of museums, stressing that she hoped other museums would be inspired to build relationships as well.

Krista Pikkat, Unesco’s director for culture and emergencies called the moment "historic and moving," on Tuesday, adding that "This is a case we have shared with our member states because we felt it was exemplary in many ways." The return of the objects was not a transaction, she said, but “a collaboration, a dialogue", a project fuelled by "empathy, trust and love".

Related News

Aboriginal group sues Australia for $1.1bln iron ore claim

Australian PM calls for urgent reforms in indigenous welfare

The items were all purchased or exchanged for in the 1950s by Peter Worsley, an anthropology Ph.D. student studying the lifestyles of Indigenous Australians who eventually became a university professor.

According to Ward, Worsley was building relationships with the Anindilyakwa people, and his daughter Deborah, who was present during the ceremony expressed her father would be "thrilled."

The tribe has been involved directly with what items should be returned and which could remain in the museum.

Ward also expressed "We’ve worked on repatriation in this museum since the 1990s and since I’ve been director we have framed it as a gain, not a loss. Once you understand that it is about building relationships, it changes everything. I think this project is an incredible gift to the people of Manchester."

Noeleen Lalara, a senior elder, expressed she was "happy" and "proud" for the people to regain their lost artifacts.

Another elder, Amethea Mamarika, expressed "We are happy that the objects are going back to our homeland, where they belong so young people can follow in the footsteps of our ancestors. Thanks for keeping them safe."

'Delayed repatriation is delayed justice for Native peoples': Senators

In June, Alaska's Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan added their signatures to letters, urging five museums and universities to repatriate Indigenous artifacts and the remains of those deceased to their descendants.

The letters collected the signatures of 13 bipartisan Senators calling on the University of California Berkeley, Harvard University, Illinois State Museum, Indiana University, and the Ohio History Connection to abide by the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that was signed into US Federal Law in 1990.

The Act decrees that all institutions that benefit from Federal funding must repatriate all human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony to their descendants or original community.

The letters denounced the non-compliance of the institution as "delayed repatriation is delayed justice for Native peoples."

  • Australia
  • manchester museum
  • Cultural theft
  • Aboriginal people
  • indigenous people

Most Read

Fierce resistance ambushes target IOF in Gaza Strip

Fierce resistance ambushes target IOF in al-Zaytoun, Gaza City

  • Politics
  • 30 Aug 2025
Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks (Photo by Mahdi Rtail)

Tom Barrack's imperial tantrum in Beirut: When entitlement speaks

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025
Although it does seem likely they will launch some kind of operation in northern Gaza, one which will accelerate its mass murder of civilians, but will fail to achieve its stated objectives. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Here is why the Israeli occupation of Gaza won’t work

  • Opinion
  • 26 Aug 2025
A scene showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter during an ambush on July 7, 2025, in a video released by the al-Qassam Brigades on August 26, 2025 (al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

Al-Qassam reveals Beit Hanoun ambush targeting Israeli forces

  • Politics
  • 26 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
Indonesia president says some protests 'leaning towards treason'
Politics

Indonesia president says some protests 'leaning towards treason'

Photo from the United 4 Gaza protest in Frankfurt Germany on August 30, 2025 (@theLeanderthal on X)
Politics

Over 10,000 join pro-Palestine protest in Frankfurt, Germany

NATO became tool of US expansion: US economist
US & Canada

NATO became tool of US expansion, says US economist

An Israeli soldier walks on a road following a military raid in the West Bank village of Al-Mughayyir, on August 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Politics

New illegal Israeli settlement established near al-Khalil

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS