ABSTRACT
Ritual objects and information considered to be ‘secret-sacred’ were often traded with anthropologists and museum collectors in Central Australia from the late nineteenth century through to the mid-twentieth century. Since that time there has been a radical reorientation in the way that museums discuss and handle this material. As secret-sacred objects (including recordings of song and ceremony) cannot be publicly shown or discussed, they now sit awkwardly within the public museum. Increased sensitivity towards the restricted and esoteric meanings associated with these items has seen resources allocated to develop protocols and policies within state institutions that might satisfy Indigenous epistemological frameworks. In this chapter, I discuss the definition of the secret-sacred object in Australia and outline the history of how this material has been dealt with by two collecting institutions. These objects do not just embody religious value but represent significant interactions with past anthropologists and offer prospects for future collaboration and exchange.
