Welcome Home, Yukun: A Family’s Spiritual and Emotional Healing Through the Repatriation of Their Ancestor

Abstract

ABSTRACT The repatriation of human remains has gained significant momentum in recent decades; however, little attention has been given to the experiences of recipient groups through these repatriations. This paper is centred on Central Australia, where repatriations have become a regular occurrence against a backdrop of strong social and racial tensions. These tensions wax and wane, lessening around regular cultural events and heightening with the summer heat and the strain of frequent sorry business (mourning). In this context, this paper follows the repatriation of an Anangu man, Yukun, to his close family who reburied him at Uluru in October 2022. The land council anthropologist who mediated the repatriation wrote this piece collaboratively with two senior descendants of Yukun. In 1934, police officer Bill McKinnon unjustifiably killed Yukun. Without the community’s knowledge, his remains were later exhumed during a Commonwealth Inquiry. Yukun’s death was well-known to Anangu and well-documented; his repatriation has not been examined in the same depth. Throughout the truth-telling process, the family was confronted with acts of historical violence, but this culminated in Yukun being finally laid to rest. This paper explores how processing this information conveyed emotional challenges that ultimately resulted in the family finding closure. The reburial enabled the constructive reintegration of Yukun into their lives. Finally, this paper considers the role of the anthropologist in supporting the family or community throughout the process. The aim of this is to provide insights encouraging a more humane approach which prioritises the recipients’ emotional needs in reconciling past injustices.