MORE than 150 years after the skeletal remains of an Islander child were taken from the site where they were buried, the community will finally be able to lay the body to rest.
Taken from Darnley Island, also known as Erub Island, which is part of the outer Torres Strait islands group, in 1854, the child is one of many ancestral remains the Torres Strait Repatriation Working Group has been fighting to have returned.
The group, which is in Liverpool, UK, where the child's remains have been since being transferred from the Norwich Castle Museum in 1956, also has been petitioning other museums to follow suit and return traditional artefacts.
The delegation, made up of representatives from a number of island groups, also includes Erub elder Kapua Gutchen, who will accompany the child's remains home.
Darnley Island councillor Kenny Bedford could not be contacted yesterday but a member from the Torres Strait Regional Authority said the small eastern islands community was excited about the homecoming, but would wait until the group was back on home soil early next week before commenting publicly.
Torres Strait Regional Authority chairman John T. Kris said the return of the remains was welcome, but there was still more work to do.
"As well as collecting the ancestral remains, the delegation is also going to advocate for the return of other Torres Strait ancestral remains from the Natural History Museum and Cambridge University, who are collectively holding more than 250 Torres Strait Islander ancestral remains," Mr Kris said.
The working group consulted19 communities resulting in the completion of a report on the repatriation of remains.
"The consultations confirmed it is the views and wishes of all Torres Strait people that the remains of their ancestors are returned to their rightful place," Mr Kris said.
