Note: this article discusses a deceased First Nations person.
The University of Aberdeen has returned the ancestral remains of a young Aboriginal man to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, ending more than 170 years in Scotland. The man is thought to have been killed at the Shannon River in the 1820s or 1830s, and the centre will lay him to rest in a traditional ceremony conducted by Aboriginal people.
The Return
Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre representatives Andry Sculthorpe and elder Jeanette James brought the ancestral remains into Hobart on Thursday 27 March, after the University of Aberdeen held a handover ceremony in Scotland on 21 March 2025. The university first approached the centre in 2019, and its governing body approved the return unconditionally in 2020.
What the Records Show
The remains were part of a collection assembled by William MacGillivray, a professor of natural history at Marischal College. The university bought the collection after his death in 1852, and the sale catalogue described the remains as “Native of Van Diemen’s Land, who was shot on the Shannon River”. They were used in medical teaching during the 19th century and the early 20th century, and were later moved to the university’s human culture collection.
The remains had been in the university’s collections for more than 170 years. The man’s name is not known, and the university says his identity is unlikely ever to be known beyond his tribal group. He was part of the “Big River” tribe, which the university describes as one of the many original tribes entirely wiped out and for which there are no surviving direct descendants.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s Statement
In a statement, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre says there is “no doubt that this skull was removed from the man shot at the Shannon River in order to service (the) trade in Aboriginal body parts”, and that the decapitation was most likely performed by one of the killers or others associated with his murder, which may have taken place in the 1820s or 1830s.
Andry Sculthorpe, a Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre representative, said: “Aboriginal people feel the enormous responsibility of restoring to our own country both the physical remains, and through them, the spirits of our ancestral dead.”
He also said: “This is a record of racist attitudes to the study of humanity, including human remains acquired by grave robbing and other immoral activity; in this case, murder.”
Nala Mansell said: “This repatriation is a crucial moment for our community. It acknowledges past injustices and allows us to bring our ancestor home to country, where his spirit will be set free as he is laid to rest in his traditional homelands.”
The University of Aberdeen’s Statement
Neil Curtis, head of university collections, said: “Given the violence and racism that led to their acquisition, it would be unacceptable for these ancestral remains to be used for research, teaching or exhibitions purposes. We are pleased that the remains of this young man can now be handed over to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre for appropriate burial in his homeland.”
Repatriation Work Continues
The return of the man’s ancestral remains came in the same week as a second repatriation involving the centre and a Scottish institution. The University of Glasgow’s Hunterian Museum returned a 148cm shell necklace made on a Bass Strait island in the 1880s, after requests for its return in 1995 and 2002 were refused. The centre says it is the first overseas return of a Tasmanian cultural item in 27 years. The University of Aberdeen returned a Benin Bronze to Nigeria in 2021, the first such repatriation in the world by a museum.
Andry Sculthorpe said: “The difference now is institutions that previously wouldn’t meet with us … and outright refused to discuss returns are now saying ‘let’s talk’. We feel that is a positive step and the tide is turning.”
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Sources: University of Aberdeen, https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/24212; ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-22/ancestral-remains-return-to-tasmania-from-university-of-aberdeen/105072270; The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/27/aboriginal-man-remains-returned-tasmania-from-university-of-aberdeen; CNN, https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/19/australia/university-repatriates-aboriginal-remains-gbr-scli-intl/index.html; Museums Association, https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2025/03/university-of-aberdeen-repatriates-remains-of-tasmanian-aboriginal-man/