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Museum skulls return to islanders | |
(1 day later) | |
A delegation from a remote island community has retrieved five skulls which belonged to their ancestors from Glasgow Museums. | |
The skulls were taken from the Mer Island in the Torres Straits by a missionary in the 19th Century. | The skulls were taken from the Mer Island in the Torres Straits by a missionary in the 19th Century. |
They have been part of Glasgow Museums collections since 1898, although have never been displayed to the public. | They have been part of Glasgow Museums collections since 1898, although have never been displayed to the public. |
The delegation from the Torres Strait, between Australia and Papua New Guinea, will now return the skulls for burial. | |
Scottish minister Robert Bruce originally collected the remains back in 1898 for his friend Alfred Haddon, a renowned anthropologist. | |
He later donated them to Glasgow Museums where they have been kept in storage for the last 100 years. | |
Ghost dance | |
Delegates spent a private moment with the skulls before embarking on their return journey to Mer Island for the remains' proper burial. | |
Islander Ron Day, whose ancestors' remains were among those kept at the museum, said his journey to Scotland was an emotional one. | |
The remote island was popular with anthropologists in the 19th Century | |
He said: "The reason we are here is to get the picture right, to get all the pieces together and make a good picture. | |
"But at the same time to get our ancestors to go back home and rest in peace." | |
As a mark of respect, the islanders handed over a dhari - a ceremonial head dress used in traditional island ceremonies - to the city's museums. | |
The skulls' return is the latest in several high profile repatriations - the most famous being the Ghost Dance shirt returned to the Lakota Sioux in 1999. |
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