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A little-known leader in the repatriation of secret and sacred items to Aboriginal communities is being fondly remembered as the South Australian Museum celebrates International Museum Day (18 May).
The theme for IMD this year is Museums Uniting a Divided World.
And there would be few better examples than the work of Warlpiri Elder Darby Jampitjinpa Ross.
Darby, who died in 2005 aged 100, worked at the South Australian Museum for decades and helped lead the development of the Museum’s repatriation programs through the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
The repatriation model has now been adopted by Museums across the country and internationally.
Darby worked with a number of South Australian Museum directors, including Robert Edwards in the 60s and Chris Anderson in the 80s to return Warlpiri objects to Country in Yuendumu near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
The Museum’s Warlpiri Project Repatriation Officer Jamie Hampton said Dr Edwards suggested Darby build a museum of the community’s own at Yuendumu so the objects could be safely repatriated.
“The community raised money, bought a pickup to cart sandstone and built the Yuendumu Men’s Museum by hand,” Jamie said. “It took them 10 years, but it’s still there today.
“Darby was the perfect man to provide guidance, and a lot of objects were repatriated back to Yuendumu. That was the starting point for a lot of museums around Australia.
“He opened the door and built relationships that still continue today.”
Darby first saw Europeans in early adolescence and was a survivor of the Coniston massacre in 1928. He twice met renowned researcher Norman Tindale at Mt Liebig and Yuendumu on his expeditions to central Australia in 1932 and 1951.
Later in life Darby became a distinguished artist, working with the Warlukurlangu Arts Centre in Yuendumu.
A number of his painted shields are in the Museum’s collection along with several canvases, and he was instrumental in the development of the Museum’s outstanding Yuendumu Doors collection.
Former Museum Director Chris Anderson remembers Darby well.
"Darby took me under his wing when I began the first South Australian Museum repatriation position in 1985,” he said. “He could be at times somewhat of a 'rascal' and had a great mischievous sense of humour.
“He was a wonderful, brilliant man and a great mentor.”
Jamie, himself a Warlpiri man who recently won a Churchill Fellowship to study repatriation, agreed Darby was an inspiration to all.
“It’s an honour to be able to continue Darby’s legacy through The Warlpiri Project and my role at the South Australian Museum,” he said. “Jampitjinpa (Darby) has been a huge inspiration to me. We will be sure to continue his legacy.”
International Museum Day highlights the role of museums in society and is co-ordinated by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). More than 37,000 museums in 158 countries participate in the event to raise awareness on the role of museums in cultural exchange, education, and development.
Visit the South Australian Museum’s website for more information on its partnership with The Warlpiri Project or the project’s Facebook page.
