The Wagonga lady is one of more than 1,700 ancestors returned to Australia from overseas collections in the past three decades, but many more remain to be found and returned.
On the edge of Wagonga inlet on the NSW far south coast, Walbunja elders, their families and guests dip their heads to bathe in smoke as they prepare to welcome back a long-lost ancestor.The story of the return of the Wagonga lady after a 150-year journey is extraordinary but, tragically, all too common.(Archival records indicate that the ancestor's remains were removed from Wagonga inlet near Narooma around 1875 and taken to Sydney.
"What we know of her, she was 600 years old, and she was taken from Wagonga inlet," Walbunja elder Aunty Vivian Mason said. "Our ancestors need to be returned to their home and their Dreaming, where they are protected by country."(Biripai man Mark Simon leads a team dedicated to the repatriation of Aboriginal cultural heritage at Heritage NSW.
Shane Hamilton says the NSW government has started the process for an Aboriginal cultural heritage legislation.For Wakka Wakka and Bundjalung man Shane Hamilton from Aboriginal Affairs NSW, righting the wrongs of the past means not just bringing ancestors and cultural items back to country but taking care of the cultural heritage that we live among.
Yuin Repatriation Aboriginal Affairs NSW Heritage NSW Wagonga Inlet Wagonga Local Aboriginal Land Council
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