The Homebound Project | Repatriating Indigenous Heritage in the UK

Bringing Indigenous heritage home

In museums and universities across the UK, Indigenous ancestral remains and cultural objects remain far from home. The Homebound Project works to change that, funding their return to the communities and lands where they belong.

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Our mission

The Homebound Project is dedicated to restoring dignity, sovereignty, and cultural integrity to Indigenous communities worldwide by funding the material repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural artifacts from UK institutions to their rightful communities.

Indigenous objects in the UK

Far from home

Across the United Kingdom, hundreds of thousands of Indigenous objects and ancestors are retained in museum and university collections. Because stolen cultural objects and human remains are not well documented, it is difficult to give exact numbers. However, the following statistics give a general idea of how big the problem is:

200000

Cultural objects from the Pacific are held in the UK

The British Museum holds 40,000 items from the Pacific alone.

Pacific Presences in Britain... (2018)

13600

Items from Tasmania are held by the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford

This does not include the vast collection of objects from the rest of Australia held by the museum.

Pitt Rivers Meuseum

1700

Human remains from around the world are held by the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomical Museum

Universities and institutions across the UK have similar statistics, meaning that at least tens of thousands of Indigenous ancestors are being kept from returning to their descendants and homelands to rest.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Importance of repatriation

Why repatriation matters

1. Restoring Respect

Returning ancestors and cultural objects allows Indigenous communities to honor their heritage, conduct traditional ceremonies, and lay their ancestors to rest according to their own cultural customs.

2. Healing Historical Injustice

Colonial collecting practices were often violent, repressive, and non-consensual; repatriation can help bring healing from the trauma caused by these actions. The return of ancestors and sacred objects acknowledges the harm done and restores control, voice, and agency to those from whom it was taken.

3. Honoring Sovereignty

Repatriation affirms Indigenous peoples’ sovereignty — the right to determine the care, meaning, and future of their people, land, and cultural heritage.

4. Strengthening Cultural Continuity

When cultural items are repatriated, they reconnect people to ancestral knowledge, language, and identity. These objects carry teachings and stories that support community renewal, education, and intergenerational learning.

5. Achieving Ethical Practices

Repatriation encourages museums and universities to confront their colonial legacies and their continuing unethical practices. Additionally, through building respectful relationships with Indigenous communities, institutions can correct the false and harmful narratives that have arisen from their distorted representations of Indigenous objects and cultures.

Repatriation Process

The repatriation process in the UK

Unlike other colonial countries, the United Kingdom has no laws in place to mandate the repatriation process for Indigenous heritage. Instead, each institution determines for themselves what the path to repatriation will include for the objects in their collections. Some institutions are more open to repatriation than others; these positions on repatriation are reflected in the processes Indigenous items have to go through in order to be returned home.

Navigating these varying and complex processes is not easy, but there are people and organizations who work hard to make repatriation possible. These include members of Indigenous nations, museum employees, and non-profit organizations.

If an object successfully makes it through these processes, it is cleared to return home. However, UK institutions very rarely fund this journey, and the financial burden is placed on the Indigenous community to whom the object belongs. Often, due to centuries of violence and oppression, Indigenous communities lack the funds to pay for repatriation.

The Homebound Project exists to fund these journeys home

Are you from an Indigenous Nation seeking funding for a repatriation from the UK?

Do you want to learn more about repatriation?