Moriori and Māori Ancestors Offered Dignity and Respect
Today the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa will hold a pōwhiri to mark the return home of 59 Māori and Moriori
ancestral remains from the United Kingdom and Europe.
The karapuna (Moriori ancestors) and tūpuna (Māori ancestors) have been repatriated from England, Germany and Sweden.
They will all be carried onto Rongomaraeroa Marae at Te Papa, and placed on the atamira (the raised platform on the marae) at the beginning of the ceremony, where they
will be offered dignity and respect by those that have gathered.
Te Papa’s Kaihautū, Dr Arapata Hakiwai, who took part in the hand-over ceremonies in Europe, says “there is a growing
awareness among overseas institutions about the importance of repatriating ancestral remains. They are realising many
ancestors were taken by unethical means, and Te Papa is pleased to be able to work with international institutions in
order to facilitate the safe return of the ancestors to their iwi.
The ancestral remains have been repatriated from four institutes – The Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Sweden, the
Übersee Museum in Bremen, Germany, the Manchester University Museum in England and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford,
England.
Dr Hakiwai says “To add, this is also a bitter sweet occasion, as our repatriation work reveals newly established
colonial museums, alongside visiting natural historians from Europe actively participated in the trade of Māori and
Moriori remains, ‘taken’ from wāhi tapu (sacred repositories). Many New Zealanders are unaware of this history, and do
not realise the long standing history of the lack of respect offered to wāhi tapu by colonial settlers.”
The ancestral remains will be welcomed home at Te Papa by representatives of Moriori and Māori communities, senior
government officials and representatives of Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany.
After the pōwhiri, the karapuna and tūpuna will rest in Te Papa’s wāhi tapu (sacred repository).
Based on the accession information the returning 59 ancestral remains have provenance to the following parts of New
Zealand and iwi (tribal groups), including:
· The Chatham Islands/Rēkohu (Moriori);
· Whangaroa (Ngāpuhi) in the Te Taitokerau (Northland);
· Hokianga River in the Taitokerau (Northland)
· Tainui/Waikato region;
· French Pass in the South Island; and
· The remaining ancestral remains have general provenance to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Further research will be undertaken to confirm provenance where required.
ENDS
Media advisory:
The Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme will be bringing home 59 Māori and Moriori ancestral remains from the United
Kingdom and Europe.
Institutions repatriating tūpuna are Karonlinska Institutet in Sweden, Übersee Museum in Germany, and both the
Manchester University Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum in England.
The karapuna and tūpuna will be welcomed on to Te Papa’s marae, Rongomaraeroa on Monday 29 May with the pōwhiri
commencing at 3pm.
The pōwhiri is open to media. The ceremony can be filmed and photographed and there will be an opportunity for media
interviews following the ceremony.
Prof. Pou Temara (Chair, Repatriation Adivsory Panel); Dr. Arapata Hakiwai (Kaihautū) from Te Papa are available for
comment. Additionally Dr Pamela Hyde (a descendant of collector Henry Suter) and the British High Commissioner H.E Mr
Jonathan Sinclair (British High Commissioner to New Zealand) are available for comment at the ceremony.
Media please register in advance and come to Te Papa’s main entrance at 2.30 pm on Monday 29th May.
We will escort you to the marae, brief you on protocol (see guidelines below) and give you a chance to set up.
The running order of the event is as follow. Timings are approximate.
2.30pm Media to meet in the main Te Papa foyer
3pm Pōwhiri commences with the ancestors and manuhiri entering
Rongomaraeroa via Ara a Tāne external stairs)
4pm Karapuna are tūpuna leave Te Papa’s marae.
4.30pm Kapu ti – light refreshments (Icon, level 2)
5.30pm Pōwhiri ends
Related press releases since 15 May 2017
About the Karanga Aotearoa repatriation programme
Karanga Aotearoa is a government programme with the mandate to negotiate the return of human remains to New Zealand.
Since its inception in 2003, the remains of more than 420 ancestors have been returned from institutions around the
world.
For details of previous repatriations see: