Between the 1800s to1950s, anthropologists at the University of Melbourne were digging up burial sites of First Nations ancestors who had been laid to rest and collecting, rather stealing, their bodies. And while some of these human remains were returned to land and reburied, one collection remained hidden away at the university in a storage room until 2003. 

Uncover the true story of The University of Melbourne’s troubled past of grave robbing and the efforts to repatriate the hundreds of Indigenous ancestors’ skeletal remains back to their land and families. 

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Interviewees:

• Marie Havea, Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council 
• Rohan Long, Curator of the Harry Brookes Allen Museum

Inspiration for this episode was informed by the recently published book Doombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia by Ross L. Jones, Dr. James Waghorne, and Professor Marcia Langton of the University of Melbourne. If you would like to know more about The University of Melbourne’s response, you can download the book for free here. 

MUSIC CREDITS (In order of appearance)

The Lonely Instrument Series -Cello -Played by Natalie Haas - Music by Trygve Larsen from Pixabay

Cold Sad Pianos - Music by Mike Kripak from Pixabay

Meditative Background Mystical Yoga Nature Fantasy Music - Music by Dubush Miaw from Pixabay

June  - Music by Marcel Pequel from Free Music Archive 

Sad Tragic Dramatic Music Slow Melancholic - Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

Loneliness_Outro- Music by Grand_Project from Pixabay