THE LARGEST repatriation of Maori and Moriori remains have been welcomed home to Te Papa Marae after spending more than a century overseas.
The collection of ancestral remains included 35 preserved tattooed heads, two tattooed thigh skins, 24 Moriori and 46 Maori skeletal remains.
The collection has been in the American museum of natural history in New York.
Tears flowed as the remains were given into the care of Te Papa’s custodians.
Representatives from Iwi all over New Zealand spoke of the significance of the occasion.
Arapata Hakiwai of the Te Papa repatriation team says it was an emotional time for everyone concerned.
“It’s been a long journey for the ancestors but I can’t say enough about how great it to have them home,” he says.
The repatriation took over five years of negotiations at a cost of $100,000.
The repatriated heads and thigh skins had belonged to Horatio Robley, a British soldier stationed in Tauranga from 1865 to 1866 during the land wars.
Like many Europeans he collected as curiosities the human heads Maori preserved as trophies of war or as mementoes of loved ones.
Scott Schaefer of New York’s American Museum of Natural History hopes this won’t be the last repatriation of its kind.
“We have significant collections that we have returned today, so that we’re very proud of,” Scott says.
It is estimated that almost 1000 Maori and Moriori remains are still held in collections in the United States and Europe.
