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Repatriation and Restitution

Resources to support museums on repatriation, restitution, and a list of requests for return made to Scottish museums and galleries.

Introduction to Repatriation

In a museum context, restitution is about the return of ancestral remains or cultural objects held in museum collections, to communities or individuals. Repatriation involves the return of ancestral remains or cultural objects to nations or states. These advice guides support museum to return looted or unethically acquired items in Scottish collections and to work collectively with descendent communities making return requests.

Introduction to Repatriation and Returning Cultural Belongings
This suite of guidance supports museums so they can work towards restitution, repatriation and return processes becoming part of normal museum practice.
Advice for museums considering returning items
There is no “one size fits all” approach to repatriation and returning ancestors or cultural items from museum collections varies. This guide outlines 6 areas museums should focus on when considering repatriation.
List of Repatriations from Scottish Museums
Search the list of repatriation requests made to Scottish museums and galleries

Return (and Other) Stories

Return (And Other) Stories is a series of stories which aim to make the ideas and processes of Restitution and Repatriation more accessible to museum workers and those interested in the topic. These stories include the experiences of communities who have made a request to a Scottish museum for the return of a cultural object. The series attempts to provide a balanced insight into the realities of repatriation request to show the complexities of this work.

6 people stand in an auditorium around a Benin Bronze sculpture placed upon a plinth covered in a blue table cloth that has "University of Aberdeen" written on it. 5 of the people have dark skin, 1 has light skin. The people are all wearing examples of formal dress in either the western european style or North West African style.
Sector Story
Returning a Benin Bronze to its rightful place: Benin City
In 2021, the University of Aberdeen returned a looted Benin Bronze from their collection to the Oba of Benin, becoming the first UK institution to agree to an unconditional return of a Benin Bronze. Neil Curtis, from University of Aberdeen, outlines the process of giving back a pillaged object without a repatriation request being made. 
A group of medium skin tone people wearing traditional clothing of the Nisga’a Nation stand on a balcony behind the wooden Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole. The pole depicts animals carved into the wood and extends out of shot at the top and bottom of the image.
Sector Story
The Rematriation of the House of Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole
The House of Ni’isjoohl Memorial Pole, stolen from the Nisga’a Nation in the 1920s, was rematriated from National Museums Scotland (NMS) in 2023. Noxs Ts’aawit (Dr. Amy Parent) of The Nisga’a Nation and Dr. John Giblin from NMS outline the process of international cooperation to rematriate the Memorial Pole to its ancestral home.
A group of six adults gather around a glass jar containing a lizard specimen.
Sector Story
Return of the Galliwasp
Staff at The Hunterian share their experience of returning a specimen of the extinct Jamaican giant galliwasp back home to Jamaica. They highlight how the repatriation of the specimen was achieved through collaboration with curators and academics in Jamaica, and explain the challenges and outcomes of the process.