
Repatriation team
Learn about the people behind the Karanga Aotearoa repatriation programme.
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
In 2003, the government mandated Te Papa to develop a formal programme for the repatriation of kōiwi tangata and kōimi tangata/kōimi tchakat (Moriori skeletal remains) from international institutions to iwi. Here you can learn about the repatriation process, see all the repatriations to date, and meet the team.
Learn about the people behind the Karanga Aotearoa repatriation programme.
Find out how the programme came into existence, how negotiations for repatriation are carried out, and what happens when the Māori and Moriori ancestral remains arrive at Te Papa.
Prof. Dr Eggers presents a background to the various collectors and expeditions involved in the illicit collection and trade of tūpuna and karāpuna and their difficult and long-awaited journey home. This kōrero follows the recent and significant return of kōiwi tangata and kōimi tangata/kōimi tchakat from Austria to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Te Papa has returned close to 850 Māori and Moriori ancestors to Aotearoa New Zealand by repatriating ancestral remains, including Toi moko, from around the world.
Since the early 19th century, the illicit collection and trade of kōimi tangata/kōimi tchakat (Moriori skeletal remains) saw the remains of hundreds of Moriori karāpuna (Moriori ancestors) stolen from sacred burial sites and held in collections, both abroad and within Aotearoa New Zealand.
Find out what happens to the Toi moko (preserved Māori tattooed heads), kōiwi tangata (Māori skeletal remains), and kōimi tangata/kōimi tchakat before, during, and after their time at Te Papa.
Returning Māori and Moriori ancestral remains to iwi (tribes) Māori and imi Moriori across Aotearoa New Zealand and Rēkohu Chatham Islands.
Read about the respected Māori and Moriori representatives who advise our repatriation programme.
Watch an online presentation from Übersee-Museum Bremen, Germany and Te Papa discuss themes of cultural treasures and ancestral remains from Oceania in Germany, their history of collection and trade, contemporary care in museum collections, and pathways to re-connection of these taonga (treasures) and tūpuna/karāpuna (ancestors) to their communities of origin.
Regional meetings provide a valuable repatriation discussion forum.