The Wire

This week the Dja Dja Warrung Native Title group in Victoria have secured an emergency declaration to stop the return of some indigenous bark etchings to the British museum. The etchings were done 150 years ago in the Wimmera area, and have been in the British museum until recently when they were loaned to Australia. The affair is causing outrage in museum circles with a warning that refusal to return the loaned materials could threaten the whole system of international museum loans Bobby Nicholls is a traditional owner of the Dja Dja Warrung – he says what his people want is ownership of the etchings, and then they would be prepared to loan them back. CEO of the Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Ross Taylor says the proposal is quite reasonable and timely for museums around the world to consider .