Remains of Australia’s oldest people to be reburied
<p dir="ltr">The 42,000-year-old remains of 108 Indigenous Australians, including Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, will be reburied in the Willandra Lakes Region of New South Wales.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, announced that the government had approved the reburial while visiting Mungo national park, within the world heritage-listed region about 750 km west of Sydney.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Forty-two thousand years ago Aboriginal people were living - and thriving - on the edge of what was then a rich lakeside. In the last four decades their remains have been removed, analysed, stored, and extensively investigated in the interests of western science,” Ms Ley said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“I have determined that the remains can be reburied in the Willandra Lakes region in accordance with the wishes, rights and interests of the local Aboriginal community, represented by the Willandra Lakes Region Aboriginal Advisory Group (AAG).”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The ancient remains will be reburied in 26 anonymous locations in national parks over the coming months, as reported by the <em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-61006118" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a></em>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The remains of Mungo Man, discovered in 1968, and Mungo Lady, whose burned remains were found in 1974, are among the earliest modern humans found in the world and are the oldest remains found in Australia.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mungo Lady, who was burned before her burial, is the oldest known example of human cremation. Her remains were returned to Lake Mungo in 1992.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Mungo Man’s remains were kept by the Australian National University, then the National Museum of Australia, until his remains were repatriated in 2017.</p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fdb140f2-7fff-e8d3-2d93-1a436896c17f"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">The decision to rebury the remains comes after four years of deliberations, including a formal assessment under national environment law.</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CcABTzGOLXB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div>
</div>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CcABTzGOLXB/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Sussan Ley (@sussanleymp)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">However, some Indigenous groups claim they weren’t consulted in the process.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Michael Young, who was involved in the return of Mungo Man’s remains to country, told <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/06/mungo-man-and-mungo-lady-to-be-reburied-in-willandra-world-heritage-area-after-federal-decision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guardian Australia</a></em> that the Barkindji people, who hold native title claim for 80 percent of the land where the reburial will be, weren’t consulted before the decision was made.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We have not even been included in the process,” Mr Young, a Barkindji man and former member of the Wilbarra AAG, told the publication. “This is the arrogance of both the federal and the state government.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We feel really traumatised by this.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We have always canvassed the idea of a keeping place … to hold it over for the future generations.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ms Ley has denied the claims, noting that the AAG included representation of the Barkindji people, which also includes representatives from the Mutthi Mutthi and Ngiyampaa groups.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Everyone was listened to, everyone was heard,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-fa1e886c-7fff-0838-e6cf-244bbac0b4ce"></span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>
