A/HRC/45/35 strengthened Charrúa identity.39 Vaimaca Perú was one of four Charrúa individuals who were forcibly removed from their lands following the Salsipuedes massacre and ended their lives in France exhibited as human curiosities. The return of his remains to Uruguay and the national honours that were rendered restored dignity to the Charrúa people. 56. One example of the return of ceremonial objects is the return of 48 Aymara textiles to the village of Coroma in the Plurinational State of Bolivia. These ancient textiles, known as q’epis, are revered due to their links with the ancestors and are deemed essential for the wellbeing of the ayllus (lineage-based descent groups). Removed from the community in the 1970s, these textiles ended up in the hands of private collectors. Thanks to the efforts of the community and the diplomatic endeavours of the national Government, together with law enforcement agencies in the United States of America and Canada, they were returned in 2002.40 57. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies has been implementing its Return of Cultural Heritage Project since 2019. Directed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander custodians, the project has identified over 95,000 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander objects scattered in over 200 overseas collecting institutions. The project has negotiated the return of 85 culturally significant objects and has created relationships with collecting institutions. The concerned communities are involved in all stages of the repatriation process. Murrandoo Yanner, Chairperson of the Gangalidda Garawa Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, has explained that “it’s not just the items, it’s the spirit attached, they were taken. The people who once owned them, their spirit went with them and they returned today. It’s a very, very powerful event and it helps in the cultural revival that’s going on”.41 58. In 2018, the President of France announced his intention to repatriate cultural objects collected in Africa from the nineteenth century through to the 1960s, notwithstanding prohibitions under French law on permanently transferring ownership to countries of origin. A report commissioned by President Macron called for a presumption in favour of full repatriation of items taken during the era of “colonial violence”, unless the current possessors could show affirmative evidence of rightful acquisition, including consent. 42 It will be important for indigenous peoples in Africa to have their own interests acknowledged in this process that seems presently designed to repatriate to national Governments, such as Benin, and for all stakeholders to assist in capacity-building for the return of cultural objects. 59. In 2019, Finland and the United States of America agreed to repatriate ceremonial objects and human remains to multiple tribes in the American Southwest, an example of States facilitating indigenous peoples’ cultural rights. 43 Yet, the involvement of State institutions may not always be necessary. In 2006, the Museum of Ethnography in Sweden returned the G’psgolox totem pole to the Haisla people of British Columbia, Canada. To the extent possible, indigenous peoples may prefer repatriation directly to them, without State involvement. 60. While still an ongoing process, the repatriation request for the Yaqui Maaso Kova from the National Museums of World Culture in Sweden illustrates how the Declaration can be used together with the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, national laws and policies, and indigenous peoples’ own laws and customs in order to facilitate repatriations under special agreements or for special ethical reasons. In particular, article 15 of that Convention can be understood and applied to recognize indigenous peoples’ rights to repatriation under 39 40 41 42 43 12 See http://archivo.presidencia.gub.uy/_web/noticias/2008/03/2008030404.htm (in Spanish). Susan Lobo, “The fabric of life: repatriating the sacred Coroma textiles”, Cultural Survival, September 1991; and Donna Yates, “Coroma textiles”, Trafficking Culture, 11 August 2012. Presentation by Craig Ritchie at the expert seminar. See Brigit Katz, “French report recommends the full restitution of looted African artworks”, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 November 2018; and Vincent Noce, “‘Give Africa its art back’, Macron’s report says”, The Art Newspaper, 20 November 2018. See www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-bernhardt-commends-president-trump-president-niinistofinland-agreement.