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Two more Toi moko (tattooed Maori heads) will be returned to New Zealand from a second museum in Germany.
Last month it was announced that two Toi moko would be repatriated to the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand from the Ethnographic Museum in Berlin, where they had been kept since 1879 and 1905 respectively.
But on Monday, Te Papa confirmed that two other Toi moko from Gottingen University would also be returned.
Representatives will receive the Toi moko from Berlin on Monday, while the Toi moko from Göttingen will be received on Thursday.
KATE WHITLEY / TE PAPA
The leaves of the kawakawa plant are worn and placed with the ancestors as a symbol of mourning in this 2016 ceremony.
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The necessary Maori protocols will be carried out prior to your repatriation, which is governed by Maori protocol and international law.
As the iwi connections of the Toi moko are unknown, once they return to New Zealand, they will rest in the wāhi tapu of Te Papa while further research is carried out.
“These are not objects, they are our sacred tūpuna (ancestors) and now we can take them home where they belong,” said Dr. Arapata Hakiwai, Kaihautū of Te Papa.
“Through this work, the ancestors are embraced by their whānau, comforted by the spirit of the earth, and once again they return to a peaceful and lasting sleep.”
KATE WHITLEY / TE PAPA
Te Papa staff, along with Moriori and Maori descendants, the British High Commissioner and representatives from the United States embassy bring ancestors to the Te Papa marae in 2016.
Michael Kraus of the University of Gottingen said that his two Toi moko were received from the English royal house of Windsor in 1834.
Hermann Parzinger, a spokesman for the Berlin Ethnographic Museum, said his Toi moko was obtained through an amateur ethnologist who bought one on behalf of the museum in London, and another was donated by an editor / geographer who never traveled to Oceania.
Parzinger was glad that the repatriation could take place despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are constantly learning, through our own provenance research, but also through such exchanges, and we will do everything in our power to continue down this path and redress the historical injustice,” he said.
KATE WHITLEY / TE PAPA
Te Papa staff and iwi representatives pay tribute to the ancestors who returned to Te Papa in 2016. Traditional layers of fine feathers are draped over the travel cases containing the ancestors, as a mark of honor and respect.
German State Minister for Culture and Media Monika Grutters said the repatriation was an important sign of reconciliation for societies affected by colonialism.
The remains are the last received by Te Papa as part of its Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Program, which, since 2003, has returned more than 600 ancestors to New Zealand.
During the 1800s, hundreds of ancestors were removed from Aotearoa as the global trade in human remains took off, fueled by curiosity about native peoples’ culture and physical anthropology. The repatriation program was established to negotiate the return of the remains to New Zealand.
The four Toi moko are due to arrive in New Zealand in a ceremony in November.
