Ancestors, also referred to as Ancestral Remains, are the physical remains of an Indigenous person. This term acknowledges the family lineage and living spirit of the deceased and emphasizes the ancestor’s cultural and spiritual importance to their living relatives.

_{Learn more: https://repatriates.org/glossary/ https://www.aboriginalheritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/report-ancestral-remains}

Museums, universities, and government bodies holding Indigenous objects and ancestors.

Country or Land in the Indigenous context refers not just to geography but to a deep connection to an ancestral home.

"Land is not just where they live - land is identity, family, culture and lore.'' - National Indigenous Times

"Country is the term often used by Aboriginal peoples to describe the lands, waterways and seas to which they are connected. The term contains complex ideas about law, place, custom, language, spiritual belief, cultural practice, material sustenance, family and identity." - AIATSIS

_{Link to National Indigenous Times article: https://shorturl.at/4RavD
‍Link to AIATSIS article: https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/welcome-country}

Cultural Affiliation is the relationship between a present-day Indigenous nation or group and earlier nations and groups, used to establish rights to objects and ancestors. This term is used in NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), the US law which mandates terms of repatriation in the US. Although NAGPRA does not apply in the UK, Cultural Affiliation can still help build the case for the repatriation of objects and ancestors.

_{Learn more: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/glossary.htm}

Cultural Heritage is something that is meaningful and connected to Indigenous identity. It is a vast concept referring to artistic, historical, religious, and cultural objects, as well as songs, stories, dances, knowledge, practices, and ceremonies. It can also include Indigenous land and country.

_{To learn more about this term in different Indigenous contexts, see:
‍https://heritage-toolkit.fpcc.ca/what-is-indigenous-cultural-heritage/
https://www.aboriginalheritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/aboriginal-heritage}

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Decolonization is the process of dismantling colonial rule, systems, and ideologies to restore sovereignty to colonized lands and peoples. In the museum setting, this looks like reversing unethical collecting and displaying legacies, removing secret-sacred items and ancestors from sight, giving Indigenous nations full control over both physical and digital displays that contain their cultural heritage, and repatriating objects and ancestors.

Free, Prior and Informed Consent refers to a right of Indigenous people outlined in UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), which allows Indigenous people to give or withhold consent to projects affecting them or their resources. In terms of repatriation, it also applies retroactively to ‘cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their [Indigenous peoples’] free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.’ Importantly, the UK voted in favor when this document was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007.

_{UNDRIP link: https://shorturl.at/qDFam
Learn more: https://shorturl.at/wXytC}

Funerary Objects refer to items placed with ancestral remains as part of a death rite or ceremony. This term is used in NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), the US law which mandates terms of repatriation in the US. Although NAGPRA does not apply in the UK, defining Funerary Objects as their own category can help build the case for their repatriation.

_{Learn more: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/glossary.htm}

Provenance refers to the history of an object, including where it was removed from and its chain of custody after collection. In repatriation, this research is critical for identifying the origin of an object and its journey into an institution's or individual's collection, which helps establish the rightful community for return. In Indigenous contexts, provenance is often complex, with many objects having vague or disputed histories, having been taken under duress or removed without consent.

Rematriation is an alternative term to repatriation, proposed due to the connotations of patriarchy and ownership associated with the term repatriation. The idea of rematriation emerges from Indigenous feminist paradigms that emphasize returning sacred items to Mother Earth, focusing on restoring balance, healing, and cultural revitalization rather than just legal transfer. The Homebound Project fully supports the concepts behind the term rematriation and in many cases prefers it to the term repatriation. However, because the term most commonly used and recognized globally is repatriation, we often use repatriation instead.

_{Learn more: https://repatriates.org/glossary/
rematriation.org}

Repatriation is the process of returning cultural objects and ancestral remains to the Indigenous communities from which they were taken. Some institutions define repatriation as the process by which objects and ancestors are returned specifically to a nation-state; The Homebound Project aims to bypass nation-states as much as possible, preferring to work directly with Indigenous communities, and thus does not use the term repatriation in that sense.

Restitution is defined as the process by which cultural objects and ancestors are returned to an individual or a community (as opposed to a nation state as can be implied by the term repatriation). However, restitution and repatriation are often used interchangeably, particularly in Europe. The Homebound Project uses the terms repatriation, restitution, and rematriation to represent the same concept: the return of ancestors and objects back to the Indigenous lands from where they came.

Secret-sacred objects are culturally sensitive items that are restricted (by touch or sight) to initiated individuals, certain genders, or specific ceremonial uses.These objects often possess deep spiritual significance for Indigenous communities and should be respected by all as dictated by traditional law and customs.