ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the size, history, scope and legal status of Indigenous human remains held in French public collections. The first part provides an overview of key French public collections that hold Indigenous human remains, highlighting a critical need for further research to identify other collections and consolidate information. The second part focuses on how the French government and French public institutions have dealt with demands for repatriation by communities of origin. The chapter explores the legal and administrative status of public collections, drawing attention to the complexity of French repatriation cases to date, and how negotiations have occurred at the highest levels of government. Finally, the chapter discusses emerging pathways for repatriation, taking into account the existing joint arrangement between Australian and French governments to increase efforts to work cooperatively on the repatriation of Ancestral Remains. It points to the need for the Australian government to build on this existing commitment and take a proactive role in facilitating access to collections to researchers, repatriation practitioners and Indigenous communities.
