The bone collectors: a brutal chapter in Australia's past

The remains of hundreds of First Nations people, dug up from sacred ground and once displayed in museums all over the world, are now stored in a Canberra warehouse. When will they be given an appropriate resting place? Some were passed off as victims of frontier violence between tribesmen – but mostly were defending traditional lands on the pastoral frontier – and colonial troops, paramilitary police forces, settler militia and raiding parties. Their bodies were cut up for parts that became sought-after antiquities across Australia and in cultural, medical and educational institutions globally.

