Twelve months on from the reburial of 42,000-year-old Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, First Nations elders are calling on the New South Wales government to release an independent report into the process.
Mungo Man and Mungo Lady were reinterred in the Willandra Lakes Region near Ivanhoe in the state's west last year.
Former federal environment minister Sussan Ley approved the reburial of the remains following consultation with the Willandra Lakes Aboriginal Advisory Group.
The world heritage status of the area meant the burial required approval from the Commonwealth.
The reinterring went ahead despite an 11th-hour legal challenge from a group of elders from the Baakantji-Paakantyi and Mutthi Mutthi tribes to stop the process from happening.
In August, an independent report concluded the burial was done "accordingly", however, it was not released to the public.
The skeletons of 106 Aboriginal ancestors remain stored at the Mungo Visitors Centre awaiting a decision from the state and federal governments on their future.
Mungo National Park is home to three Aboriginal groups including the majority native title holders, the Baakantji-Paakantyi people, along with the Mutthi Mutthi and the Ngiyampaa tribes.
Baakantji-Paakantyi elder Jennifer Jones said the process to rebury the ancestors was "disrespectful" and lacked consultation with First Nations people.
"They should let the traditional owners make the decisions. I just feel so hurt because they never should have done it," she said.
"It is not the native title holders making decisions. They had no respect for the traditional owners."
For Baakantji-Paakantyi man Michael Young, the loss of Mungo Man and Lady was still "very sensitive" for many Indigenous people in the area.
He said the new state government must make the findings of the investigation public.
"We want full disclosure and accountability; we want to know what happened and who were the people responsible," Mr Young said.
"We still don't know the full answers, and I don't know whether we ever will."
Mr Young said releasing the report could improve how the government consulted with native title holders on ancestral remains.
"Hopefully no-one has to revisit what happened out at Mungo National Park. That never should have happened how it did," he said.
"[NSW] Environment Minister Penny Sharpe should release [the report] so that we have some basis to work from and find out where the issues are within the process."
'Reflected the wishes'
A spokesperson from the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) said the independent report cannot be released to the public because it contained "issues of high cultural sensitivity" and was "legally privileged".
"The department can confirm it is satisfied that the remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady were buried in accordance with the conditions of approval stipulated by the Commonwealth," the spokesperson said.
"Those conditions of approval reflected the wishes of the elected Aboriginal Advisory Group after extensive consultation."
The DPE said the remaining 106 ancestral remains were being stored in a secure storage facility, with an updated security arrangement.
Relief but fight not over
Mutthi Mutthi woman Maureen Reyland spent decades advocating for the reburial of Mungo Lady after the remains were removed from the Willandra Lakes Region in 1969, and then Mungo Man in 1974.
Ms Reyland said it was a "peaceful" day when they were reburied.
"They gave us Aboriginal people our identity and our continuation of our culture, so to do the right thing and rebury our ancestors was special," she said.
"But at the same time there was sadness because my mother, brother, and sisters didn't see it. They had passed on."
Ms Reyland said the reinterring of the remaining 106 ancestors must be a priority for the government.
"They need to be buried back into mother earth and let nature take its course. That is the safest place for them, and that is where they should be," she said.
"The longer they are kept on that shelf, we are not at peace."
