Britain to hand back remains of colonial-era Aborigines

Two indigenous Tasmanians will leave for London today to collect the remains of several Aborigines from the colonial era held by the Royal College of Surgeons.

The remains, believed to include hair and skin from a woman once hailed as the last Tasmanian Aborigine, are among thousands of bones and body parts held in museums in Britain and around the world – originally for experimental or historical purposes.

The College of Surgeons' museum is the first English institution to take action in response to an agreement by Britain and Australia two years ago to increase efforts to repatriate remains to indigenous communities.

Among those to be handed over to Jeanette James and Tony Brown in London will be remains of Truganini, one of the best-known Aborigines in colonial times. Her colourful life was partly documented by the British, who believed her to be the last Aborigine in Tasmania; in reality, a tiny community survived.

After Truganini died in 1876 aged about 73, her skeleton was put on display at the Tasmanian Museum in Hobart and it remained there until 1947. Until recently, the indigenous community did not realise other body parts existed. Rodney Dillon, a senior Tasmanian Aboriginal leader, was told about them when he went to Britain in December to discuss the return of remains.

Mr Dillon said: "We had no idea until they told us. It was quite a surprise."

The College of Surgeons will also hand over skulls and jawbones located in museum collections in Oxford. Their identities are not known.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Australia's main organisation for the indigenous, has identified more than 50 institutions in 18 countries that acknowledge holding remains and artefacts in their collections. Remains are usually cremated and buried when they are given back to commmunities.

Ms James and Mr Brown hope to meet members of a House of Commons working group that is examining the law covering the return of remains from British museums. They will argue that such legislation should be passed to make repatriation compulsory.

According to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, some remains have already been recovered from Scottish and Irish museums.

But one Scottish institution – which it did not name – had refused even to meet an Aboriginal delegation although its collection of indigenous skulls was displayed in the natural history section.