The remains of four ancestors were finally laid to rest in a ceremony hosted by the Wellington Aboriginal community on Friday.
Wiradjuri Elder and Chairperson of the Wellington Local Aboriginal Land Council said the event was “very emotional”.
“This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to Wellington. Our ancestors should not have been taken, but we can now finally lay them to rest,” he said.
“[It’s a] very special day, bringing our ancestors back, putting them to rest . . . when I go, at least I know I did something for the Wiradjuri People.”
The four ancestors were previously held at the Australian Museum and were returned to Wiradjuri ownership in the institution’s efforts to promote healing and reconciliation.
Repatriation ceremony on Wiradjuri Country at Wellington Valley. Source: NSW Aboriginal Land Council
The four were the last of 13 ancestors who were repatriated to Country after being taken between the 1800s and the 1970s during scientific explorations.
The nine others were repatriated by the community at Blacks Camp, Black Rock, Yeoval and Wellington caves between 2015 and 2017.
The repatriations were prompted by a request from Heritage NSW and Wellington Local Aboriginal Land Council to the Australian Museum in 2015.
Dubbo Regional Council’s Aboriginal Liaison Officer Kerry Anne Stanley explained that the returning of ancestral remains was incredibly culturally significant.
“Today is special because, from a cultural lens, Aboriginal people belong to the Country, they belong to the land on which they were born,” she said.
“And in order to feel solely complete and whole as an Aboriginal person, you need to be bought back to Country to be laid to rest.”
NSW Minister for Heritage James Griffin said that returning removed remains to communities was the “right thing to do".
“For many years, Aboriginal ancestral remains and objects were removed from their communities without consent and are held in a range of public and private collections within Australia and internationally.
"Returning these remains to their communities is the right thing to do,” he said.
“The Wiradjuri people have finally been able to lay their ancestors to rest on Country at the Wellington Caves, and I hope this provides some comfort in what has been a long process.”
Aboriginal students from Wellington Public School were invited to the ceremony on Friday.
Wellington Public School students involved in the repatriation of ancestral remains at Wellington Valley. Source: NSW Aboriginal Land Council
Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Paul West said it was an opportunity to pass on cultural knowledge to the children.
The students said it was a “privilege” to watch their ancestors be laid to rest and be involved.
“Today made me happy because our ancestors got buried where they should have been in the first place,” said one student in attendance.
Ancestral remains have been laid to rest on Wiradjuri Country in the Wellington Valley.
