Cressida Fforde et al.
6
In this volume, twenty-two chapters report on research arising from Return, Reconcile, Renew
and Restoring Dignity. Many of these draw upon information generously shared by community
members in nearly fifty interviews in the Kimberley, Torres Strait and Ngarrindjeri country.
These recorded discussions explore a range of repatriation issues and histories, providing insight
into challenges, impacts, and the meaning and value of repatriation. They have informed under-
standing, for example, of the relationship between the living, the deceased, and traditional coun-
try that was fractured with the removal of Ancestral Remains, and how this interconnection
can begin to heal with their return – and why this is of such importance to people today. They
have also increased understanding of the relationship between repatriation, identity, and dignity, and how the return of Ancestral Remains contributes to, and is embedded within, nation build-
ing, cultural governance, and community development initiatives (e.g. Chapters 7, 8, and 43).
Research for Return, Reconcile, Renew and Restoring Dignity has provided support to repatriation practice and has documented the history of repatriation activity by KALACC, GBK, and NRA,
including growing understanding of cultural protocols (e.g. Chapter 3) and how new ceremo-
nial practice is being developed to meet the new, unique, and unprecedented issues posed by
the return of Ancestral Remains from museums (e.g. Chapter 47). These projects have newly
identified the extent of the sale, purchase, and exchange of Indigenous human remains in the
long nineteenth century (e.g. Chapters 3 and 4) and broadened understanding of early legisla-
tive initiatives to limit export (Chapters 1 and 19). They have started to explore the connections
between how communities think about the return of their deceased from museum contexts and
those challenged with the return of their kin from battlefields (Chapter 9), and reports on the
archive informatics required to build the Return, Reconcile, Renew digital archive (Chapter 35).
However, in development of this volume, an early decision was made to invite a significant
number of external contributions to reflect the global nature of repatriation and explore differ-
ences and commonalities. The aim has been to provide a companion that provides the reader with the breadth of information required to do justice to repatriation as a global movement. While the majority of chapters relate to Australian Indigenous peoples, the volume thus includes significant scholarship on the removal and return of Ancestral Remains in relation to New Zea-
land, the United States, Hawai‘i, Haida Gwaii, Japan, Germany, Namibia, Tanzania, Argentina, Chile, Rapa Nui, Russia, France, and the UK. These external contributions demonstrate the breadth of new scholarship and experienced engagement with repatriation issues. They show that while there may be different cultural and regional specifics, Indigenous peoples have a shared history of theft and removal of their deceased for domestic and overseas institutions and have faced similar challenges in securing their return. They express common values and philoso- phies that provide the foundation for the often protracted repatriation campaigns undertaken as a priority amidst numerous other pressing and complex matters (health, education, protection of land and waters, economic imperatives, etc.). Many people have devoted decades to repatria-
tion while also working relentlessly on community development in other areas of social and economic need.
Volume structure
The volume is divided into four sections, each containing fourteen chapters. The sections have distinct themes, but unsurprisingly many overlap, and chapters in separate sections can be read to complement one another. There are also distinct topic threads woven throughout the sections which inform different areas of repatriation research and practice and help bind the volume together as a cohesive whole. Three are highlighted here for particular attention: relationships, trauma/healing, and repatriation practice. The first thread illustrates the ways in which Ancestral