Sacred Remains Returned

A Scottish museum has returned its collection of tattooed Maori heads to NZ after housing them for more than 180 years. The nine toi moko were acquired by the University of Aberdeen’s Marischal Museum in the 1820s, at a time when European trade in Maori artefacts was beginning to reach its peak. The heads were returned to Wellington’s Te Papa Tongarewa on January 29 and will be held in the museum’s wahi tapu (consecrated sacred space) until research can confirm their origin. “Te Papa is very grateful to Marischal College staff and the Court of the University for their agreement to repatriate these ancestral remains,” said Te Papa’s Te Taru White. “Their support will enable these ancestors to make the long journey home to NZ and to their people. This is a time for both sad reflection on the turbulent journeys these ancestors experienced and, at the same time, a cause for joy as they’re returned to their homeland.”