Jaara baby facts for kids
The Jaara baby was an Aboriginal Australian child who died a long time ago, between the 1840s and 1860s. The child's remains were found in 1904. They were kept at Museum Victoria for 99 years. In 2003, the remains were returned to the Dja Dja Wurrung community. This was a very important discovery. The baby was found wrapped in possum skins. About 130 other items were found with the baby. These items were both Aboriginal and European.
How Was the Jaara Baby Found?
The Jaara baby was first found by Europeans on September 10, 1904. A woodcutter was working near the town of Charlton, in Victoria. He was cutting down a hollow tree when he made the discovery. Inside the tree's trunk, he found the baby's remains. They were wrapped in a bundle of possum skin.
The woodcutter reported his find to the Victorian Coroner. The Coroner is an official who investigates deaths. He decided that the baby had been buried according to Aboriginal customs. He suggested that the remains should be given to the National Museum of Victoria.
Who Was the Jaara Baby?
Even though the baby was buried in an Aboriginal way, there was some question about its identity. This was because it was buried with both Aboriginal and European items. The Aboriginal items included necklaces, an apron, and a tool belt. The European items were a button, an axe head, and a baby's bootie. All these items were sprinkled with ochre (a natural earth pigment). Then they were tied up in a bundle of dried possum skins.
At one point, a white man from Canberra claimed the Jaara baby was his ancestor. He spoke to Gary Foley, who worked at the Melbourne Museum. The man believed the baby was a European child. He said the child had been taken by Aboriginal tribes during a time of conflict. This conflict happened in Victoria in the mid-1800s. Tests on the Jaara remains were not fully clear. However, they showed the child was no older than 18 months. The abducted white child was known to be three years old. This made the claim unlikely.
The question of why European items were buried with the baby is still a mystery. Gary Murray is a leader from the Dja Dja Wurrung nation. He suggested that the Jaara baby was likely the child of an elder or tribal chief. This is because of the many valuable items found with the baby. The European items might have been included to record the tribe's history. They could have been a memory of the conflicts with European settlers.
Returning the Jaara Baby Home
The baby stayed in storage at Museum Victoria until 1994. Researchers from an Aboriginal cultural group found it in the museum's records. They were allowed to study the remains. Later, anthropologist Alan West began a project. He wanted to list all the remains stored at the Museum, including the Jaara baby.
In 2002, Gary Murray was working to get Aboriginal items back from Museum Victoria. The Museum had a program to return items, which started in the 1980s. Murray was given a list of Dja Dja Wurrung items the Museum had. However, a Museum employee noticed the Jaara baby was not on the list. Murray then spoke to Gary Foley. Foley contacted the Museum. After some discussion, everyone agreed that the Jaara baby should be returned.
Alan West did not want the bundle to be returned right away. He was almost finished with his cataloguing project. He wanted to separate the baby's remains from the items buried with it. Murray and other members of the Northwest Region Board strongly disagreed with this idea. Eventually, West left the Museum in August 2003.
On September 10, 2003, the Jaara baby was finally returned home. It was reburied in Dja Dja Wurrung country. This happened 99 years after it was first found. A special ceremony was held to mark the return. It included traditional dances by both Dja Dja Wurrung and Wurundjeri people. The Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So, also took part in the ceremony.
