Tribesmen were smoking smouldering eucalyptus leaves at National Museum Liverpool today (May 13 2009) after officials agreed to return an early 20th century indigenous human skull to the Australian government.
Representatives of the Ngarrindjeri, a group of 18 clans who formed communities around South Australia, are performing the tribal ceremony to mark the departure of the remains, which will be relocated to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra in the first of three lots of human remains being transferred.
NML said they had reached the decision because of the "strong cultural, spiritual and religious significance to Australian indigenous communities" of the remnants, which were bought by Liverpudlian Dr William Broad in 1948 and have never gone on public display.
No date has been set for the release of the two other sets, which are believed to originate from Darnley Island, in the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, and North Queensland.
Director David Fleming called the move a "fitting" return for the items, outlining their possible value for Australian scientific research into ancestral diet, health, disease and culture.
"The repatriation of cultural items to their countries of origin is a complex, emotive and sensitive issue," he added. "National Museums Liverpool takes a decision in each individual case when items are requested."
