ABSTRACT
The central aim of this book has been to convey the complexities of repatriation so that an evidence-based ethnographically informed approach might help shape the development of future collecting institutions and source community engagements. As Indigenous cultural collections increasingly circulate between and across varying sociocultural domains, and through differing regimes of value, there is an acknowledgement of the need to think critically about what happens after the return of this material. Where Indigenous source communities continue to engage with collecting institutions, they ought to be rightfully involved in how these materials are owned, used, cared for, and managed into the future. The experiences from central Australia discussed throughout this book reveal unanticipated responses, awkward encounters, cross-cultural tensions, and anxieties when collections come back into circulation. These accounts are given to spark innovative thinking about novel policies and practices that might not only alleviate inequities but also serve the particular needs and objectives of present and future generations.
