For thousands of years, carved patterns and symbols including circles, trellises and rows of dots existed on slabs of sandstone along the rugged landscape on the northwest coast of Tasmania.
The engravings were a connection to palawa ancestors who had lived off the land and cared for their Country when thylacines were still roaming the land.
But in an act that today would be considered cultural vandalism, museum staff used tools including a large saw to cut a number of these engravings from the rocks in which they were grounded, so they could be put on show in museums in Launceston and Hobart.
For years the palawa people worked to have the rock art returned to the Preminghana Indigenous Protected Area near Marrawah.
But as Rebecca Digney from the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania explained, it has not been a straightforward process.
Ongoing negotiations with Hobart’s Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) and Launceston’s Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery saw a commitment made at the end of 2019 to hand back the rock carvings, almost a year later Tasmania’s Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Roger Jaensch signed permits for the petroglyphs to be returned to the Country from which they were taken.
In February of 2021, as part of a symbolic handover of the items the Royal Society of Tasmania and TMAG formally apologised to Tasmania's Aboriginal community over the mistreatment and theft of their cultural artefacts.
The institutions publicly apologised for what they described as "nearly 200 years of scientific, research and museum practices that resulted in immense hurt and suffering to Tasmanian Aboriginal people."
Preminghana in Tasmania's north-west is a place of significance for Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Source: Supplied: Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre
A complex project
While the petroglyphs were free to be returned to their original site, there was work to be done before that could occur.
Ms Digney said a stone mason with specialist skills had to be hired to work on the slabs of rock to bring them closer to their natural state.
“At least one of the pieces were broken and they were then put back together with concrete and concrete glue and steel bars were driven through them, that has all needed to be removed,” she said.
“We’ve now got them back to as natural a state as they are going to be,” Ms Digney said.
“The work was completed earlier in the year, by that time it was mutton bird season which meant many of the significant community members who we wanted to be part of returning them were not available as they were out on the islands.
"Then by May, the weather was getting too cold and harsh to carry out the difficult process of returning them.”
Ms Digney said it is now hoped the rocks will be returned to the Preminghana Indigenous Protected Area in November.
“Summer is the ideal time as we need maximum daylight hours for such an undertaking.”
A lot of planning has gone into coordinating the physical return of the rocks which weigh about three tonnes.
“There had been talk about getting in helicopters and how we would get machinery in but it is a very sacred site and a sensitive area, we needed to come up with a plan that was acceptable for the community,” she said.
It’s been decided the slabs of rock will be placed in purpose-built crates and transported in trucks to the area.
The natural environment
Ms Digney said conditions on the day would determine what machinery could be used to assist in placing the petroglyphs onto what is hoped to be their final resting place but said every effort would be taken so disturbance of the surrounding environment was kept to a minimum.
When the pieces of rock are returned to their original site they will likely not be visible to those who visit the area.
“Sandstone is quite porous and with the damage already done when they were removed, the water washing up and the harsh environment in the area means they may crack and disintegrate,” Ms Digney said.
“The only way to prevent this is to prevent evaporation and to do this they must be sub-surface or underground.”
Righting wrongs
Despite knowing the ancient engravings won’t be able to be seen once covered up, Ms Digney said their return was still important.
“For the Aboriginal community in Tasmania, it’s about undoing a little bit of the damage that’s been done in the past and putting them back in their rightful place,” she said.
“Those petroglyphs were carved by our ancestors not to be surrounded by glass in an institution but to remain on our Country.”
While some people have their different interpretations, Ms Digney said is not known for certain what the symbols carved into the rock are meant to represent.
The ALCT is now putting further effort into having other culturally significant items handed back to the palawa people.
“Through that process we’ve become aware that TMAG has further cultural material in their collection and they weren’t open in that when working with us about the Preminghana material.”
Ms Digney said finding this out in such a way was disappointing.
“We had this really beautiful apology, trying to right the wrongs of the past but about the same time we realised they hadn’t been upfront, that they had been holding other culturally significant items and had not told us,” she said.
But Ms Digney said conversations with TMAG had so far been positive about the possible return of further items.
A Tasmanian Department of State Growth spokesperson said TMAG is committed to working with museums and galleries around Australia to enhance engagement with all First Peoples.
“A key part of this is following the now widely adopted protocols of the ‘First Peoples Roadmap’ by AMaGA (Australian Museums and Galleries Association) for best practice engagement with First Peoples of Australia.
“TMAG has worked closely with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community and relevant experts on the conservation and logistics of the return of the petroglyphs to Preminghana.
“TMAG is currently seeking advice from the Tasmanian Heritage Council and Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania to understand what we need to do to return the Greene’s Creek Petroglyphs and other sacred material to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community.”
