Australia German Researcher Arrived in 1972 Now Indigenous Artefacts are Returned

Ace History Desk – These sacred artefacts were thought lost forever, but one phone call changed everything

A German researcher arrived in Yuendumu in 1972, and was given rare access to Indigenous customs and culture. Now, an emotional reunion has seen the return of sacred objects.

There’s one main road that leads to Yuendumu.

The community lies in the heart of Australia’s Tanami Desert, an isolated and arid region of the Northern Territory, around 300 kilometres north of Alice Springs.

The Warlpiri people are the traditional owners of the land and have lived here for thousands of years.

FWARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images of a people who have died, used with the permission of their families.

A rugged, 1,000km highway, known as the Tanami track, is the only route in and out.

It’s the same road German researcher Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt travelled when he visited Yuendumu to study its residents in 1972.

Two Warlpiri lore men, Jimmy Jungarrayi Spencer and Banjo Jungarrayi Tex, assisted the professor and his 18-year-old son Bernolf, giving them rare access to their customs and culture.

The Germans left with hours of video footage and photographs, as well as dozens of sacred and culturally significant artefacts, which they’d been given.

More than five decades later, Nelson Tex, the son of late Warlpiri elder Banjo Jungarrayi Tex, says he was shocked to learn his father’s items were on the other side of the world.

“From what I have been told, that researcher came from Germany to Yuendumu many, many years ago and my father was very kind and worked to help him,” Nelson said.

“I think about these objects and am in shock … I’m a bit nervous but I really want to see them.”Warlpiri lore man Jimmy Jungarrayi Spencer helped the professor who visited Yuendumu in 1972.(Supplied: The Warlpiri Project)normalJack Jampijinpa Gallagher, a senior Warlpiri elder, painted to perform the Murrungurru welcoming dance for the opening of the Yuendumu Men’s Museum in 1972.(Supplied: Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt-HEFA)normalGerman researcher Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt travelled to Yuendumu to study its residents in 1972.(Supplied: Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt-HEFA)normal

The collection of artefacts includes sacred men’s ceremonial objects, as well as hand-carved stone knives, wooden spear throwers — which were used to help generate power and distance — a boomerang, shields and an ornamental nose bone.

The ABC has not published photos of the men’s ceremonial artefacts in this story.

Warlpiri elder Robin Japanangka Granites remembers the researcher’s visit 52 years ago and said the items were important to the people of Yuendumu and “not a toy” for others to look at.

“It’s not open items that need to be looked at and to be shown to people, it’s not for show, it’s something that you need to use out in ceremony,” Robin said.

“Those stuff out there are too sacred to be held.”

Last year, on Christmas Eve, a phone call changed everything.

Warlpiri Project repatriation officer Jamie Jungarrayi Hampton learned about the missing items from community elders and tracked down a phone number for the German researcher’s son, Bernolf.

When the now 70-year-old surgeon received the unexpected call at his home in Frankfurt, he described the moment as a “Christmas gift” and immediately got to work facilitating the items’ return.

It was the start of a 10-month process that reached an emotional milestone last week.A wooden spear thrower, taken from the Yuendumu indigenous community in 1972.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalThis hand-carved knife was among the items taken from Yuendumu.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalThis shield was among the items being returned to Yuendumu from Frankfurt.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalA hand-carved knife taken from the Yuendumu indigenous community in 1972.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalThis ceremonial bone was among the items taken from Yuendumu.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normal

‘I knew I had to do something’

Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt travelled the world with his father documenting the human behaviours they witnessed in remote communities.

While the late professor gave most of the items he collected on his travels to museums, he held on to the artefacts from Yuendumu and passed them down to his son when he died in 2018.

“When you make them, you sing and you paint in your Dreamtime story, so they’re alive, and to wake them up after 52 years, and in another country, is so special.

“I felt a great responsibility for these items,” Bernolf said.

“This part of the collection I retained because I knew that there were sacred objects not to be seen, not to be an exhibit in museums for everybody, because it’s the Aboriginal tradition for these sacred male objects, that they’re only to be seen and used by initiated men.”

He had a “nudging feeling” that he needed to give the items back years before he received the phone call.

“They mean much more to them than they do for me … I knew I had to do something,” Bernolf said.

“It was really sort of a Christmas gift for me that just ahead of Christmas, on Christmas Eve, we had our first contact.”Bernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt, who travelled to Yuendumu in 1972 with his father, said he was keen to return the items.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normal

Last week, a team of nine Warlpiri elders and community members made the 14,000km journey from Yuendumu to Frankfurt to reclaim the long-lost collection in a ceremony at the city’s 200-year-old Senckenberg Nature Museum.

The ceremony showcased Yuendumu’s rich cultural history, with a traditional corroboree dance performance and speeches from the travelling Warlpiri team.

The Australian ambassador to Germany, Bernolf and representatives from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) also spoke of the significance of the items’ return and plans for future collaboration.

As well as handing back the physical items, Bernolf and Warlpiri Project representatives signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to examine the hours of videos and stills the late Professor Eibel-Eibesfeldt recorded during his time in Yuendumu in the 70s.The Indigenous men who travelled to collect the items prepare to perform a traditional dance in Frankfurt.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalThe dance was part of the handover ceremony that took place in Frankfurt.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalJamie Jungarrayi Hampton, who took part in the dance in Frankfurt, has been working to see Indigenous items returned to communities.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalWarlpiri man Karl Japaljarri Hampton was among those who travelled to Frankfurt for the ceremony.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normal

For the travelling Warlpiri team, it was a significant day.

“Excited, emotional, feeling complete, so it’s a whole range of emotions,” Warlpiri man Karl Japaljarri Hampton said.

“They’re not just artefacts or objects, they’re living, living things, they’re ancestors of ours.

“They’re part of our ancestors, part of our DNA.”

The objects will now be brought back to Australia, where they’ll be stored at the South Australian Museum until a cultural centre in Yuendumu is built.

For Warlpiri Project repatriation officer Jamie, it’s the finale of a years-long effort to secure the collection’s return to Australia.

“I feel quite proud and privileged to be in the position to be the bridge between this important collection over in Germany and to my elders back home,” he said.

“We know the men who made these artefacts, so they will be able to reconnect the family with those objects and that’s something that is really important for the next generation of Warlpiri going forward.”Representatives signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the function in Frankfurt.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalBernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt prepares to sign the Memorandum of Understanding in Frankfurt.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normalBernolf Eibl-Eibesfeldt completes paperwork as part of the handover in Frankfurt.(ABC News: Adrian Wilson)normal

Thousands of Indigenous artefacts abroad

The Warlpiri Project was established by the community five years ago and works with AIATSIS to locate and repatriate Indigenous artefacts from other parts of the world.

Since they started their work, the Warlpiri Project team has successfully co-ordinated 30 repatriations, including the return of the remains of a Warlpiri ancestor to Yuendumu last year.

It’s part of a global push for museums and collectors to return cultural items, that were often stolen or obtained unethically during colonial periods.

While repatriations are becoming increasingly common, progress can be slow.Sebastian Jampitjinpa Watson (left), Karl Japaljarri Hampton, Derek Japangardi Williams and Robin Japanangka Granites are looking forward to the items being displayed in Yuendumu in the future.(ABC News: Hamish Harty)normal

Some major establishments, like the British Museum, have controversially refused to hand back ancient artefacts in their possession.

Calls for the British Museum to return the Parthenon marbles to Greece, for example, has led to diplomatic incidents and years of heated public debate.

The British Museum relies on a 60-year-old law that prohibits the return of items in its possession unless it is a duplicate, physically damaged or no longer of public interest.

Any return of artefacts from the UK must be approved by both the museum and the British government.

According to AIATSIS, there are thought to be more than 100,000 Aboriginal artefacts in museums globally, with 39,000 in the UK and more than 6,000 in the British Museum specifically.

Karl says this latest repatriation from Frankfurt is only the start of what the Warlpiri Project is hoping to achieve.

“Those things don’t belong in a museum, they’re living objects, so they belong on country and they belong in ceremony,” he said.

“We’ve got to do something, it’s urgent.”

For the people of Yuendumu, reclaiming lost and stolen items doesn’t just unlock a piece of history, it offers an opportunity to inspire future generations to connect with their culture.

“Last December we repatriated an ancestor … there was a big ceremony at Yuendumu, we had school kids there singing in Warlpiri, we had all people clapping, boomerangs, ladies dancing,” Karl said.

“Two days later I came back and one of the teachers said, ‘You’ve got to come to the school and have a look’ … the young people who attended that ceremony had expressed the impact it had on them through painting.

“So that’s the level of impact, it’s not just with us as men, it’s women and young people that are now saying, ‘hey, you know, we’ve got to do more of this’.”Yuendumu, a small community in the NT, has just one road in and out.(ABC News: Hamish Harty)normal

Credits:

Reporting: Michelle Rimmer

Camera operators: Adrian Wilson, Hamish Harty

Digital producer: Riley Stuart

Producer: Cameron Nicholls

Contributors: Basel Hindeleh, Anisha Pillarisetty

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