Larrakia artefacts returned by Californian museum after decades overseas

Australia Broadcast Center

22-05-2025

The saltwater coasts of Larrakia country are a long way from the sprawling campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the image and name of an Indigenous person who has died.
But there, nestled in the city's hillside at the Fowler Museum, priceless artefacts belonging to Darwin's Larrakia traditional owners have sat for decades.
That was until this week, when the 10 glass spearheads and kangaroo-tooth headpiece began their long journey home as part of a worldwide mission to reunite Aboriginal artefacts with their rightful custodians.
Larrakia traditional owners Darryn Wilson and Tina Baum travelled across the world for a handover ceremony at the museum and to collect their ancestors' belongings.
"Once we saw the items, I was extremely proud, extremely honoured, I found strength in my identity as a Larrakia person," Mr Wilson said.
"There was a lot of joy, none of the sadness of 'they've been taken away'. It's just about today," Ms Baum said.
The traditional owners said the items had a "time-capsule quality" and were of immense significance to Larrakia people.
"The importance of these ancestral works reinforces the mastery of Larrakia makers," Ms Baum said.
"These incredible works show both post-contact [history], using glass bottles, as well as the strong cultural practice that's in the kangaroo-tooth headdress."
Mr Wilson said reclaiming the artefacts would allow Larrakia people "to have that connection to our ancestors".
"It allows this generation to showcase the craftsmanship of our elders," he said.
The story of how the artefacts came to be so far from home is somewhat fuzzy, after they passed through the hands of some of the world's most well-known collectors.
The glass spearheads were initially taken from inmates at Darwin's Fannie Bay Gaol in 1929, and later ended up in the Wellcome Trust, owned by British pharmaceutical entrepreneur and collector Sir Henry Wellcome.
The kangaroo-tooth headband was purchased by the Wellcome Trust at an auction in 1934, two years before Sir Henry's death, when the collection was dispersed.
They were all then gifted to the Fowler Museum in the 1960s, along with 30,000 other items.
Now, after almost a century away from Larrakia country, they are finally being returned as part of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies's (AIATSIS) Return of Cultural Heritage program.
The program has led to the repatriation of thousands of long-lost items to their rightful owners, including other artefacts from the Northern Territory.
But while the AIATSIS estimates there are still hundreds of thousands of other items around the world waiting to be brought home, the institute's Dylan Daniel-Marsh said attitudes within museums and galleries globally were changing.
"When they see community [members] come into these institutions overseas and conduct a return, they see the impact that has on the community and it's very hard to argue against that," he said.
In a statement, Fowler Museum director Silvia Forni said the exchanges deepened the institution's partnership with Indigenous communities.
"Museums play a vital role in acknowledging past wrongs and fostering meaningful cultural exchange," she said.
The artefacts will now be temporarily held at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin until a new Larrakia Cultural Centre opens in 2026.