The Paradox of Recognition in The Repatriation of Australian Indigenous Remains and Sacred Objects.

In this paper I will deal with some aspects regarding the process of repatriation of human remains and culturally significant objects, drawing from my direct experience in a repatriation committee set up in the mid- 1990s in the Macleay Museum at the University of Sydney. 1 In identifying the major phases of repatriation and some of the interlocking cultural, political and moral issues, I am particularly interested in exploring the major contradictions of repatriation as one of the several arenas of confrontation between Indigenous and non-indigenous people and institutions.