Ancient Aboriginal rock art leaves museums to return home to Tasmania's far north-west
ABCTwo ancient pieces of Aboriginal rock art are making their way back to Tasmania's north-west after a long campaign to have them returned to the rugged coastline from where they were stolen in the 1960s. Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania manager Rebecca Digney said it was a "momentous" day that many First Nations Tasmanians had waited more than 50 years for. "If you look along all the rock carvings along the West Coast of Tasmania, our ancestors left a record for us 15,000 years ago of Aboriginal life," he said. Ms Digney said the land council consulted hundreds of people, including in the north-west, and described the idea of moving the art from one institution to another as "counterproductive". She said the museum had "apologised unreservedly for its past practices — including the removal of the preminghana petroglyphs in the 1960s — that resulted in immense hurt and suffering to Tasmanian Aboriginal people".
History of this topic
SA Museum apologises for holding 4,600 Aboriginal remains as first repatriations laid to rest on Country
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