Repatriation from Germany

The Repatriation of the partial remains from Germany commenced in 2019 and plans for the reburial are now finalised.

The remains were stolen from graves at unknown Aboriginal burial locations in King George Sound, Albany, during the 1870s.

In 1888, the six partial sets of Menang ancestral remains were sold to the State Ethnographic Collections in Saxony, Germany, which has held over 80 ancestral remains of Australian Indigenous people. 

An agreement between the Australian and German governments saw the return of the ancestors to Western Australia in 2019.

Since then, the six Menang ancestors have been in the care of the West Australian Museum and the WA Department of Planning Lands and Heritage in Perth.

The Federal Department of Communications and the Arts is responsible for the Australian Government’s Indigenous Repatriation Policy, which incorporates the repatriation of Indigenous ancestors held overseas.

Community consultation and information sessions were held in December 2023 and March 2024 at the Albany Aboriginal Centre on Serpentine Road, Albany facilitated by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage to discuss the reburial.

Wagyl Kaip Southern Noongar Aboriginal Corporation and the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage facilitated recent consultation with local Menang Elders to plan the progression of the return and reburial for the six Menang ancestors.

This event is to be held on Saturday, 24 May 2025 at Albany Memorial Park Cemetery, commencing at 10:00am.