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Austria returns Maori remains taken in 19th Century

Xinhua, May 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The mummified body of a child is among a group of indigenous Maori human remains to return to New Zealand from Europe after being taking more than a century ago, the national museum of New Zealand, Te Papa, said Thursday.

The remains of the high-ranking child belonging to the Tainui iwi (tribal group) were taken from its burial cave by Austrian collector Andreas Reischek, who took Maori remains, treasured artifacts and sacred repositories in the late 1800s, according to the museum.

"We are extremely thankful to the Weltmuseum Wien (World Museum Vienna) and the Austrian government for their approval to return these tupuna (ancestors)," Te Papa kaihautu (Maori leadership spokesperson) Dr. Arapata Hakiwai said in a statement.

"Their genuine commitment to the repatriation of indigenous remains allows our country to resolve a very dark period in our history."

A delegation from Te Papa traveled to Vienna to formally receive the human remains, which included the child, nine human vertebrae with a piece of flax weaving, a coffin with skeletal remains from three different people, and a toi moko (mummified, tattooed Maori skull).

The repatriation was the result of a formal request from Te Papa to the Weltmuseum Wien and Austrian government in 2013.

"The connection to the tupuna is continuous, despite time and location," chairman of Te Papa's repatriation advisory panel, Professor Pou Temara, said in the statement. Endi