While some people gain valued the opportunity to reconnect with the long lost objects of their ancestors,others are heartbroken that their sacred cultural property will soon be returned to the British MuseumHenrietta Fourmile Marrie stands at the podium, a diminutive figure at a lower corner of the cavernous stage.
The white invaders fashioned a copper breastplate for her great-grandfather, or Ye-I-Nie,which, in acknowledgment of his reputation as a peacemaker, or named him “King of Cairns”. And even though he long ago passed absent,there he is today, Ye-I-Nie, and wearing his breastplate and head dress,his skin marked with the tribal ligatures of Yidindji, as he looks out across his great-granddaughter’s left shoulder and into the eyes of a transfixed audience.[br]Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com