12-02-2025
Australia's 'important' act towards island neighbour: 'Going home'
Human remains held in Australian museums for decades have been sent home after an emotional ceremony. Handwritten inscriptions indicate the two skull fragments belonged to Moriori, an Indigenous people who settled on remote islands 800km east of the New Zealand mainland.
Their ancestors welcomed the return of the remains, known as Kōimi T'chakat Moriori, from the National Museum of Australia. 'These ceremonies acknowledge history and provide a space for reconciliation and restitution to occur,' Hana-Maraea Solomon of the Hokotehi Moriori Trust said.
After the conclusion of the ceremony, her colleague Belinda Williamson revealed she felt "peaceful". "They're going home with us really soon," she said.
It's believed hundreds of skeletal remains were taken from Rēkohu and Rangihaute, also known as the Chatham Islands, and then distributed around the world.
There were smiles and tears during the handover which included ceremonial elements from local Aboriginals and Moriori in Canberra. Speeches were delivered in both English and ta rē Moriori, with one speaker noting it was probably the first time many in attendance had heard their native language.
The recently returned remains of Moriori ancestors were held by the former Australian Institute of Anatomy's holdings and then handed to the National Museum of Australia in 2022. They will arrive at Te Papa museum in Wellington New Zealand on Wednesday, where they will be formally welcomed before being stored in a wāhi tchap or sacred repository alongside 512 other remains.
They will be housed there until it is deemed time to return them home.
From the 1800s until the 1930s it was common for Indigenous remains and ceremonial items to be looted and then donated or sold to institutions for research. Notably, the skeleton of Tasmanian Aboriginal elder Truganini was exhumed and placed on display in Hobart until 1947, and not cremated and scattered in line with her wishes until 1976. Hundreds of Indigenous items from Australia are believed to be held in museums around the world, and negotiations continue to return them.
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Speaking at the handover ceremony, Shona Coyne from the National Museum of Australia said the institution was 'deeply committed to the return and honouring of ancestors back to their rightful homelands.'
'Speaking as a First Nations person of Australia, we understand what it means to have your ancestors displaced, for we too have fought for many years to bring our ancestors home,' she added.
Dr Arapata Hakiwai from Te Papa called the return an 'important act of respect, acknowledgement, and cultural restoration'
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