Sunday Times Elder calls for end to Yagan 'farce' By JIM KELLY 30apr00 PERTH Nyungar elder Robert Isaacs says the reburial of Yagan's head is becoming a farce. The former Aboriginal Lands Trust chairman said the remains should never have been exhumed from a British cemetery. No one knew where Yagan's body was buried and the futile hunt for the grave was diverting money from more important Aboriginal needs. "Enough is enough," he said. "This whole issue has caused division within the Aboriginal community in the metropolitan area and I do not believe there will ever be a consensus. "The so-called elders who are involved in this are Johnny-come-latelies who are not elders as far as I'm concerned. "The head should be buried and be done with it." Yagan was shot and decapitated during a conflict with settlers in 1883 and the head was sent to England as a curio. The body was buried in WA at an unknown location. An Aboriginal delegation retrieved the head in 1997, sparking a row over where and who should be involved in the reburial. Aborigines want to place it with the body so that Yagan can at last rest in peace. But Mr Isaacs said claims about the location of the body was based on "guesswork" and it was time to give up the search for it. He wants the head to be laid to rest near Yagan's statue on Heirisson Island. "The fact is, nobody knows where Yagan's grave is," he said. -- _________________________________ Truth is a pathless land. --- Krishnamurti ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
