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Edinburgh Uni returns Aboriginal remains
Tuesday, 8 July, 2008
A Scottish university has returned the last of Aboriginal remains to Australia more than 100 years ago after it acquired them.
Four members of the Ngarrindjeri people in traditional dress conducted a cleansing ritual at Edinburgh University to mark the return of the remains, completing a decade-long process that has seen remains held in the University's collection returned to Aboriginal peoples.
The Ngarrindjeri people from South Australia burned eucalyptus leaves in front of the McEwan Hall in a "smoking" ceremony on Monday.
"We are very happy that through returning these remains we are able to build a new relationship with the indigenous people of Australia," John Scally Director, University of Edinburgh Collections, said in a statement on the university's website.
The final remains include a minute bone from the ear of an Aboriginal woman.
The remains were acquired by the university more than 100 years ago, when Australia was a British colony.
"Over the past decade we have been returning human remains to the Aboriginal cultures from which they came," Dr Scally said.
Source: AAP
