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By Monte Bovill - Colonialism
The remains of two Moriori ancestors have begun their journey home to New Zealand from Australia as part a years-long repatriation process.
The skeletal remains of the two Moriori were likely stolen from their home on Rēkohu — or Chatham Islands — to the southeast of New Zealand, between the late 1800s and the 1930s.
They've been held at the National Museum of Australia (NMA) in Canberra since 2022, but were originally part of the former Australian Institute of Anatomy's holdings.
The remains of two Moriori ancestors have begun their journey home to New Zealand from Australia as part a years-long repatriation process.
The skeletal remains of the two Moriori were likely stolen from their home on Rēkohu — or Chatham Islands — to the southeast of New Zealand, between the late 1800s and the 1930s.
They've been held at the National Museum of Australia (NMA) in Canberra since 2022, but were originally part of the former Australian Institute of Anatomy's holdings.
They'll now be brought to the museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, to be held in the museum's sacred repository, where they'll be held alongside hundreds of other Moriori.
Te Papa repatriation researcher Susan Thorpe said they'll stay there until the communities are ready for them to come home.
She said they will now begin a process of researching how they left their rightful home and who may have taken them.
"It's really my job to give the bones back their stories and humanise that process before they go home," she said.
Repatriation sparked by museum
The two ancestral remains returned were identified as Moriori through handwritten inscriptions.
Ms Thorpe said many myths existed about the Moriori people.
"Because they were people of peace, they were deemed to be, in some way, inferior," she said.
"To be a peaceful person, is to show enormous strength."
The museum's head of repatriation, Te Herekiekie Herewini, said this repatriation was possible thanks to the communication received from the NMA.
"It's refreshing to know there are institutions around the world that actively inform about the repatriation process," Dr Herewini said.
"Our role in the repatriation work is to bring all Māori and Moriori ancestors that are outside of our country back home."
Work is still ongoing to return dozens of other remains from other institutions around the world.
'We understand'
Speeches at the ceremony acknowledged the long history of collecting and looting indigenous remains by museums and academic institutions.
The NMA runs an Indigenous repatriation program in Canberra and First Nations outreach manager Shona Coyne said the ceremony brought with it "a deep sense of relief and joy".
"The NMA is deeply committed to the return and honouring of ancestors back to their rightful homelands," she said.
"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.
"This is not a task we can do in isolation. It requires collaboration, understanding, and a genuine commitment to honouring our ancestors' legacy."
The return of these ancestors was recognised as an important act of respect, acknowledgement, and cultural restoration.
First published at ABC News, February 11, 2025
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