Tasmanian Aboriginal activism and intervention in cultural institutions: repatriation and creating a Pakana museology

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that this thesis may contain references of deceased persons and content which may cause distress

The campaign for Trukanini’s skeletal remains to be released from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) so she could be given a respectful, ceremonial farewell in 1976, was critical in advancing the Pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal) campaign for recognition as a living Community against the prevailing idea of ‘extinction’. This action also helped to instigate the national movement for the repatriation of First Peoples’ Ancestral remains from Australian and overseas collecting institutions, driving changes to institutional and government policies and shaping wider public discourse on these matters.
Numerous scholars have examined the history of collecting Pakana Ancestral remains and cultural material; however, there are limited accounts of the Pakana Community’s campaign for their repatriation. Community members have also actively located collections of cultural material and demonstrated how retrieval strengthens cultural knowledge and practice. To date, no singular work brings these connected fields of research together and questions how this knowledge might contribute to First Peoples-led museum practices and policies. This study addresses this gap by investigating how and why repatriation activism has shaped the revival of Pakana cultural identity and the transformation of museology, including curatorial frameworks.
Drawing upon my cultural knowledge as a Pakana woman and my experience as a First Nations museum curator, my methodologies are informed by my involvement in, and respectful relationship with, my Community. The research undertaken crosses the disciplines of museum studies, Indigenous studies, and history, and it contributes new knowledge to the related areas of law and anthropology. It follows and extends First Peoples’ research methodologies by privileging Pakana knowledges, in line with the aspirations of the Community, and, while recognising the colonial past, resists the colonial narrative. The approach taken is research with Pakana, not research on Pakana. By combining archival research with new oral histories with key Pakana activists and repatriation campaigners, it brings to the fore previously unheard voices that offer fresh insights into the history and meaning of repatriation. In doing so, it makes a significant contribution to a growing field of First Peoples-led research and analysis of museum practice and the contemporary challenges of returning cultural material.
Weaving in oral histories and my ‘insider perspective’, I demonstrate how and why Pakana Ancestral remains and cultural material were collected, traded, studied and displayed from the late 18th century until the present. This is followed by a comprehensive account of the contemporary Pakana repatriation campaigns since the 1970s and an explanation of the profound spiritual and cultural effect that repatriation has had on the Pakana Community. The study then provides a reflective critique of changing international and domestic museum policies and practice and analyses the influence of repatriation activism in the (re)activation and (re)interpretation of museum collections and the ongoing development of Pakana-centred curatorial frameworks. Further, this dissertation recognises the significant repatriation work done by the Pakana Community, placing that contribution in an international context and demonstrating how repatriation instigates, maintains and revives knowledge and practices, inspiring the resurgence of a cultural identity beyond what Gerald Vizenor (Anishinaabe) termed ‘survivance’.
This account demonstrates the interconnectedness of Ancestral remains; archaeological material such as petroglyphs and stone artefacts; and cultural materials with ‘Country’ and people, highlighting Pakana rights to care for cultural heritage and to reconnect with Country. Critical issues identified include the need for changes in legislation and government policies to provide for a self-determined Pakana museology independent of government-run institutions that continue to house and control Pakana cultural materials, as a legacy of the colonial era. The research demonstrates the fundamental importance of repatriation to the revitalisation of Pakana cultural identity, spirituality, cultural practice and knowledge: repatriation is more than the ‘handover’ of Ancestral remains or cultural material to ‘right past wrongs’, and it is more than a legal or moral debate. Repatriation is central to Pakana cultural sovereignty, and a future based on ‘distinction’ not ‘extinction’.