For Lardil elder and songman Lawrence Burke, the return of his grandfather's headdress to its home on Kunhanhaa (Mornington Island) after more than 50 years in the United Kingdom, signifies hope for the future.
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"Back in the missionary days, so much was taken from our people," he says.
"We lost many artefacts like boomerangs, spears, paintings, rocks.
"All of these are important because it's how we teach the younger ones. It's how we tell our stories, and that's how we keep our culture alive."
The returning of the piece marks a stride towards bringing home even more culturally significant items.
"We are excited the headdress is home. There is more hope for the future now. We want to keep working with different organisations to return more of these artefacts to their country," Mr Burke says.
In 1973, Mr Burke's late grandfather Philip Jack performed with the headdress at the opening of the Sydney Opera House.
Mr Jack gifted the headdress as a gesture of friendship to his neighbour Maurice Routhan, who was leaving for the UK.
In recent years Mr Routhan sought to return the headdress, and with the help of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), it was brought home in January 2020.
However, due to COVID-19 complications, the headdress was only handed back to Mr Burke and the Lardil people this week.
Preserving culture
Mr Jack was a respected songman and teacher among the Lardil people.
"The headdress is important to me because when I was growing up, the old fella was a great cultural teacher," Mr Burke says.
Crafted from paperbark, human hair and emu feathers, the shape of the headdress symbolises the rainbow serpent.
"It is worn to represent a boy transitioning into manhood. It is also used to show what totem clan you're from and it's really important for ceremonies and corroborees.
The road to recovery
While the return of the headdress was celebrated by Mr Burke, there remain hundreds of thousands of culturally important items lost to Indigenous groups around the country.
"The biggest problem on Mornington now is in regards to a story place where a rock was taken. The rock is a Dreamtime story about two young boys," Mr Burke says.
"It was taken from its place during WWII. I would like to get that back."
AIATSIS chief executive Craig Ritchie said First Nations people had been lobbying for the return of their culturally significant items and ancestral remains since "at least the 1970s".
And things are changing.
"The attitudes of private collector institutions overseas are shifting," Mr Ritchie says.
"The response we've had over the past couple of years has been really overwhelming."
AIATSIS has identified more than 110,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander objects in overseas collections.
Meanwhile, about 300 collecting institutions are holding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material.
"About 65 of those are eager to work with us for the return of material," Mr Ritchie says.
"I urge anyone who wishes to return Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artefacts to contact AIATSIS. Be assured that it will be a significant gesture and that the artefact will be treated with great respect and care."
