Lured from their homes, stripped of their clothes and put on display like animals: Haunting photos show the Aboriginal people who were kept in 'The Human Zoo' that toured the world

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Indigenous Australians were kept alongside animals and paraded around the world in what was dubbed 'The Human Zoo'.

In the late 19th and mid 20th centuries up to 20 Aboriginal people, along with tens of thousands of other entrapped humans, were put on display around Europe and North America.

The Palm Island community in North Queensland has been reunited with the remains of an ancestor who was exhibited in the 'zoo', according to the ABC.

Palm Island elder Walter Palm Island told the publication: 'My father's genealogy shows that an uncle died in America in a circus... and it was like a jigsaw puzzle putting these pieces together.' 

Indigenous Australians were kept alongside animals and paraded around the world in what was called The Human Zoo

In the late 19th and mid 20th centuries up to 20 Aboriginal people were put on display around Europe and North America

'Looking at the images and pictures of the ancestors, I can see the pain and suffering they had in the expressions on their face. And how degraded they were.

'They lost a lot of their self-esteem and confidence in themselves as human beings. They were treated as animals.'

The shameful part of the nation's history will be detailed in a new documentary, Inside Human Zoos, set for release later this year.  

Australian Cinematographer Philip Rang, who is working on the film, said Aboriginal people were put on display as 'boomerang throwing savages.'

The shameful part of the nation's history will be detailed in a new documentary

Australian Cinematographer Philip Rang, pictured right, said Aboriginal people were put on display as 'boomerang throwing savages'

'Indigenous humans from all parts of the colonised world were exhibited in World Exhibitions, Zoos, Freak Shows, circuses such as PJ Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth, and reconstructed ethnic villages in Europe,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 

'It's an obligation that we as the white fella recognise and sympathise with the harm which has been endured up until when "The Aboriginal Act" was suppressed.

'And by participating in this documentary is one of the best ways as a cinematographer I can contribute.'

The documentary will premiere in France in June.  

The documentary, Inside Animal Zoos will premiere in France in June