Wurrmulalkki: Returned Histories (page 7)

wurrmulalkki (returned histories)

"I am happy, smiling with all my heart. Many of the objects displayed here were taken away a long time ago to various locations, both interstate and international. The removal and disposession of our ancestor's belongings - things they made and used, gave and received as gifts, objects associated with Dreamings and dreaming sites - left an empty space. 'We, their descendents, went on trips to the store rooms of the South Australian and Melbourne museums, where many pf these objects were located, and held discussions with the curators about the artefacts and other materials held in their collections. They agreed to return the materials to us to store here at Kyinkka Nyunyu. Now our children have access to these objects, resources and language materials.' The objects displayed here were collected from the Tennant Creek area, mostly in the early 1900s for state museum collections. The anthropologists or collectors who acquired the objects rarely recorded the names of their makers or owners. Yet the objects themselves tell us much about the old people and their skills identities, technologies and ways.

Dianne Stokes Nampin 2002