A/HRC/45/35 commitment to understand others’ world views, heal past injuries, promote reconciliation and build relationships and partnerships based on mutual respect. 1. Repatriations at the national level 46. Several examples of repatriations at the national level were brought to the attention of the Expert Mechanism. In some cases, ceremonial objects or human remains held by museums, universities and other institutions, and sometimes in private collections, were returned to the indigenous peoples concerned. In Norway, for example, through the Bååstede Repatriation Project, approximately half of the collections of Sámi objects that are currently in the custody of the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History and the Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo are scheduled to be returned to six consolidated Sámi museums in local Sámi communities.27 In terms of human remains, the Sámi Parliament in Norway has also made progress on custody and reburials. While Sámi skeletal materials remain in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oslo, the collection is under the Sámi Parliament’s management and administrative authority.28 47. The Sámi Parliament has also supervised several burials of returned human remains, including the reburial of 94 skulls in Neiden in 2011, and the skeletons of named individuals in Kautokeino and Alta.29 In Sweden, in 2019, 25 Sámi individuals were reburied in Liksjoe (Lycksele) on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, 9 August, thanks to the joint efforts of the local Sámi organization, the Sámi Parliament, regional museums and the municipality. Those human remains had previously been kept in the archives of the Swedish History Museum.30 In Finland, 95 Sámi ancestors, previously held at the University of Helsinki, were reburied in Jaamišsuálui, representing about half of the University’s collection of human remains. The remaining Sámi ancestors were subsequently repatriated to the Sámi Museum, Siida, in Inari, where they are currently held in a special storeroom. These remains are managed jointly by the Museum and the Sámi Parliament. Nevertheless, the University of Helsinki maintained ownership of the collection and the Sámi are not entitled to a reburial.31 48. The Sámi Parliament in Norway notes that reburials are a labour-intensive process involving identifying descendants and giving them a say in how to organize funeral ceremonies. Nevertheless, this helps facilitate a healing process for descendants and communities. The Sámi Parliament also acknowledges that in the case of unidentified individuals there are often differences of opinion, with some favouring reburial, while others prefer for the material to remain in museum collections to be a source for future knowledge about Sámi cultural history. The Sámi Parliament recognizes the importance of being receptive to these differences of opinion within the community in order to be able to adopt decisions based on a broad range of input.32 49. The Ainu people of Japan have also been involved in a decades-long struggle to recover the human remains of their ancestors held by several Japanese universities. In 2014 and 2018, the Government of Japan formulated guidelines regarding the repatriation of human remains and grave goods of the Ainu people held by universities. With the understanding and cooperation of the people concerned, the Government encouraged the universities to repatriate the human remains and grave goods to the Ainu people in accordance with those guidelines. 33 While human remains from several universities have been returned, many of them remain in a newly built repository, the Ainu Symbolic Space in Hokkaido, and this has divided opinion among the Ainu community. One challenge is the requirement by Hokkaido University for next of kin identification for the repatriation of 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 10 Submission from Norway. Submission from the Sámi Parliament in Norway. Ibid. Submission from the Sámi Parliament in Sweden. See also www.loc.gov/law/foreignnews/article/sweden-government-announces-truth-commission-at-sami-repatriation-ceremonyfollowing-official-sami-request/. Presentation by Áile Aikio at the expert seminar. Submission from the Sámi Parliament in Norway. Submission from Japan.