Liverpool became the focus of one man's battle to reclaim the head of a long dead ancestor after it was discovered to have been buried in a cemetery in the city.
Back in 1997, Aborigine leader Ken Colbung flew to Britain to plead for the return of his ancestor's decapitated head. The head belonged to an Aborigine warrior leader called Yagan who was shot dead by a bounty hunter in 1833.
Yagan led the resistance of indigenous people to European settlers in Australia. Following Yagan's death, his head was taken as trophy and had ended up at Liverpool Museum before being relocated to Everton Cemetery in 1964.
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In an attempt to preserve it, the head had been smoked. But in 1964, it began to decompose and it was buried along with a Maori's head and the mummy of a Peruvian child.
Arriving in Liverpool, Mr Colbung spread Australian flowers and prayed for the spirit of his ancestor at Everton Cemetery and pledged at the unmarked graveside: "I shall return with the head of Yagan." However, his hopes of digging up the head of the tribal leader were complicated by the fact that the bodies of 22 stillborn babies had also been buried in the grave several years later.
Despite needing the permission of the families of the children who had been buried in the grave, the Aborigine leader remained hopeful. At the graveside he is reported to have said: "I have a good feeling about this visit. I am getting a message from Yagan and he is telling me - 'Don't leave me here. Take me with you.
"'Thank you for coming for me. I am lonely so far from my own country.'"
Mr Colbung, who was 66-years-old at the time, was the leader of 14,000 aborigines from Western Australia. He had travelled 12,000 miles to England to return Yagan's remains so he could "find eternal peace."
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The pensioner explained that only through reuniting the head and torso, Yagan's spirit could be set free to continue its eternal journey. He added: "The planned full burial of this warrior and leader will have enormous cultural and social impact on the Aboriginal people."
Permission to retrieve the head was finally granted by the Home Office and Mr Colbung returned later in the year to bring the head back to Australia. It took six hours for cemetery staff to carry out the delicate exhumation.
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The Home Office had granted a licence only on condition the bodies of 22 stillborn babies buried above the box containing the head would not be disturbed. Cemetery manager Angela Dunn, who supervised the exhumation, said: "It was very tricky because it was very important not to disturb the other bodies and to ensure the grave did not collapse."
The relic of Yagan's skull was presented to Mr Colbung and other elders at a special ceremony in Liverpool Town Hall in August 1997. The remains were enclosed in a wooden box wrapped with a Kangaroo skin inscribed with sacred drawings.
Do you remember Ken Colbung's fight to reclaim his ancestor's remains? Let us know in the comments section below.
Despite the remains being returned to Australia in 1997, Yagan's head remained unburied three years later. Following a dispute between two Aborigine tribes, the head remained in an Australian bank vault until it could be settled.
The disputes centred on the authenticity of the remains, which tribe were the true decedents of Yagan, and whether the head should have even been disturbed from its Liverpool resting place. Corrie Bodney, one of the only living descendants of the Ballaruk people of which Yagan is said to have been a clan member, said: "Since it has been brought back here there have been deaths in people's families. That is their punishment."
The latest series of Memory Lane is in major retailers including Asda, Tesco, Home Bargains and selected newsagents now. This series of the bumper picture special looks at fun in the sun - with stunning photographs and treasured memories of family holidays from years gone by. You can also buy Memory Lane online here.
After years of debate on the appropriate final resting place, Yagan's head was buried in a traditional ceremony in the Swan Valley in Western Australia in July 2010, 177 years after his death. Activist and Aboriginal leader, Ken Colbung had also died earlier the same year.
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