The Trustees of the Horniman reached the decision following a formal repatriation request for ten Warumungu objects from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), on behalf of the Warumungu community.
(9.354__001-D) Warumungu wartilykirri (hooked ‘number seven’ boomerang), Horniman Museum and Gardens
The Warumungu objects, of cultural and spiritual importance, will be handed over to a delegation from Australia later this year. They include a ngurrulumuru (stone axe) and two wartilykirri (boomerangs). Two of the objects – a marttan (knife) and a murkutu (sheath) – have been removed from display in the Horniman’s World Gallery in preparation for their return. Their place in the display will, for now, be left empty with an explanatory label.
Following the transfer of ownership, the Warumungu objects will be returned to Australia where they will be housed at the Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre in Tennant Creek, Northern Australia, and cared for in accordance with the traditions and customs of the Warumungu peoples.
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. They are Warumungu and they need to come back to Warumungu country. We are happy that they’re coming back because all that stuff was taken a long time ago before my time. I want to thank them [Horniman Museum] for sending those things back to us. They’ve made a choice to send them back to where they belong. It wasn’t them who collected it, it was their ancestors, so I want to thank them.
These objects are of the utmost significance for the Warumungu people, and were lost to them in circumstances where they were compelled to sell or give them away. We are pleased to be able to return them to the care of their original community.
The formal request for nine of the Warumungu objects was received on 3 May 2023 and the Horniman has responded according to its Restitution and Repatriation Policy. The decision of the Horniman Trustees was endorsed by The Charity Commission, as the regulator of the charitable sector, on 7 February 2024, under section 106 of the Charities Act 2011, noting the Trustees’ ‘moral obligation’.
Main image credit: (9.354__001-D) Warumungu wartilykirri (hooked ‘number seven’ boomerang), Horniman Museum and Gardens