A sacred Aboriginal artefact has been returned to Wollithiga country three decades after it was taken to Melbourne Zoo for protection and to be used as an educational tool.
Scar trees are Indigenous relics that have had bark carved out to create items such as canoes, shelters, weapons or containers.
Wollithiga elder Uncle Henry Atkinson says scar trees have also been used as boundary markers or have had their wood used in burial ceremonies.
"Spirits are in everything, in everything we do," he said.
"The spirits of that tree is telling you stories of what I am, what that scar or canoe tree is.
"I can take you to places where there are scar trees of different kinds that tell a story."
This particular tree is estimated to be more than 400 years old and its return to country was deeply emotional for Uncle Henry and the Wollithiga clan.
It will be erected on a Wollithiga burial ground where Uncle Henry's grandparents lie.
"For me, to know that something of the past has come back again ... it's finally back on country, among the spirits of the elders.
"Those spirits, once again, reconnect."
Gathering dust in a storeroom
The tree was donated to Melbourne Zoo in the early 1990s by the family of a zookeeper who feared their property would be flooded out.
Used for several years as an education tool, it gathered dust in a storeroom after the zoo's education centre was demolished.
That is, until the zoo's educational officer, Simon Rawson, was alerted to its existence.
"I got in contact with some traditional owners and asked if they knew anyone up in Wollithiga country," Mr Rawson said.
"They put me in touch with Henry."
Working closely with the zoo, and aided by the Defence Force, Uncle Henry has returned the tree home.
Tree placed on protected property
The tree is being planted at a property at Torrumbarry, between Echuca and Cohuna, that is owned by Tuesday Browell.
She has long had a passion for looking after the land, with a conservation covenant on her property to protect endangered sandalwood trees that grow there.
It was one of the few spots the scar tree could be kept safe, Ms Browell said.
"You can't just put it down in the bush on the river — it'll get annihilated, it will get chopped up as firewood or just rot.
"It will be just wonderful to have it standing proudly near that burial site."
More scar trees need protection
Mr Rawson said Melbourne Zoo would keep exploring ways to strengthen relationships with the Aboriginal community.
"We recognise we've got a lot of opportunity to grow," he said.
"In the future, we hope to get better and better at reconciliation."
Ms Browell said there were countless scar trees in need of protection.
"All over Australia, on every waterway, there's hundreds, thousands, if not more of these scar trees and they just sit there unattended, unadorned, unloved.
