Prior to his release, Mamaku-Ironside would request time alone with the ancestral remains.
Wellington, New Zealand:
Snatched by grave robbers or traded as sinister curiosities by settlers, the remains of New Zealand’s indigenous peoples have been slowly brought home from overseas over the centuries.
After British explorer Captain James Cook arrived in New Zealand in 1769, some European settlers developed a serious fascination with the indigenous Māori people and the remnants of the Moriori, who are the original inhabitants of the Chatham Islands.
For colonial traders, the greatest trophies were the tattooed heads of indigenous warriors and leaders.
In the name of unsophisticated scientific research, grave robbers also looted indigenous human remains from burial sites across the country, mostly during the 19th century, which is still a source of anger and grief for many New Zealanders.
Since 2003, experts at New Zealand’s Te Papa National Museum in Wellington have searched the world to locate them.
“This is important for all indigenous peoples whose ancestors were either traded or collected and taken overseas,” Te Herekiki Herewini, who manages the museum’s repatriation programme, told AFP.
He said the program has retrieved the remains of about 900 indigenous people, and estimates that between 300 and 400 remains are still held in institutions around the world.
“We are working hard to bring them home,” he added.
‘Like a crime ring’
Last week, the remains of 95 ancient New Zealanders, along with six mummified tattooed heads, arrived home from seven institutions in Germany.
In Māori culture, skulls, bones, and other body parts are called tupuna, or ancestral relics.
Getting the remains home is more than a matter of logistics.
Copenhagen-based Te Arikirangi Mamaku-Ironside, Te Papa’s head of repatriation, works to find which museums still hold indigenous relics and negotiate their release.
“It’s a giant jigsaw puzzle trying to work out where New Zealand’s ancestral remains are now kept – whether in state museums or private collections,” he told AFP.
“A grave robber may have taken from one location, but his collection may have been distributed among several museums in several countries or continents.
“As the program progresses, the picture becomes much clearer.”
Mamaku-Ironside explained that New Zealand’s early colonial museums often exchanged artefacts with foreign collectors, with the remains ending up in foreign museums.
“There was a network of exchange,” he said. “It was like a crime ring – except it wasn’t actually considered illegal as it wasn’t considered unethical to trade in human remains. They were viewed as specimens.”
Mamaku-Ironside says her initial approach involves contacting institutions to find out what relics are stored in their collections.
Part of their role is to “establish and confirm” which items “were in fact illegally collected and traded from New Zealand”.
‘healing the trauma’
Mamaku-Ironside said, “It is very important not to approach this as angry Māori, but to say that in a spirit of friendship we are going to work together so we understand each other.”
The government-backed program, which includes the logistics and cost of repatriation, is a delicate process with a spiritual aspect.
Prior to his release, Mamaku-Ironside would request time alone with the ancestral remains.
“We introduce ourselves – just so they know who we are – then we state our purpose, to help make the way for them to return home. It’s very spiritual, very emotional,” he said. Said.
After their arrival in Wellington, the remains are returned to their iwi or tribe after a pohri ceremony to mark their return.
That’s when Mamaku-Ironside thinks his work is done.
“It’s about healing the trauma,” he said, “that the ancestors were stolen away from their homes.
“Even after he is gone, his journey continues.
“It’s not over until they are back in their communities.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)