Sho (Hisako) Kodama  - Repatriation of Ainu and Aboriginal Ancestral Remains

Research overview

More than 1,600 Ainu remains are kept by Japanese universities, and Ainu people have taken legal action for the return of their ancestral remains from Hokkaido University. I wanted to know why Aboriginal people can get their ancestral remains more smoothly than Ainu people, and to find ways to help Ainu people get their remains back. During my fieldwork in Sydney, I met Phillip Gordon at the Australian Museum and Denise Donlon and Matt Poll at the Shellshear Museum, University of Sydney. I also visited La Perouse Aboriginal community on Botany Bay, where some ancestral remains have been repatriated by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. 

The biggest contrast I found between the two countries is the degree of recognition of differences between indigenous people and other people. I had no idea about that until I went to Sydney. In Japan, Ainu people seem distant and vague for most other people, but in Australia, Aboriginal people are nearer and a current issue. Visiting a Blue Mountains pre-school, where children learn about indigenous issues, I could understand how greater awareness of Aboriginal issues has developed. Mr. Gordon said that most people in Sydney have their own views on indigenous people and policy, whether for or against. They have chance to know and think about indigenous people and issues. Most Japanese people, however have not taken this step. They have less opportunity to know about Ainu people and other people who live in Japan. I think this step is the preparation phase for repatriation based on negotiation. 

And participation of indigenous people in different levels of society and in repatriation processes, like Mr. Gordon and Mr. Poll who work in organisations returning remains, is needed. The involvement and control by indigenous people themselves in the repatriation processes is important to find the right way for both interested parties. 

Arranging interviews was challenging for me but I could exchange information with three repatriation experts about the Aboriginal and Ainu situations and learn many points about repatriation in Australia, which I couldn’t find from secondary research. I hope that I can use these experiences in Australia to think about the situation in Japan more deeply.