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RepatriationKaranga Aotearoa

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.

  • North Island Kaka, Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis, collected 24 Apr 1988, Waiterimu, near Ohinewai, Waikato., New Zealand. CC BY-NC-ND licence. Te Papa (OR.024148/1)

    Repatriation team

    Learn about the people behind the Karanga Aotearoa repatriation programme.

  • A man in a feathered cloak at a repatriation ceremony at Te Papa's marae

    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.

  • A group of people on a set of steps in a room with other people

    Watch: Return of looted ancestors from Vienna to Aotearoa New Zealand

    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.

  • Repatriation ceremony, 2014. Photograph by Kate Whitley. Te Papa

    International repatriation

    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.

  • Basalt columns that are mostly five-sided by the sea which has a lot of seaweed and foam in it

    Repatriation and return of karāpuna to Rēkohu

    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.

  • A group of people hold boxes containing Māori and Moriori skeletal remains

    The repatriation of Māori and Moriori remains

    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.

  • Repatriation ceremony, 2015. Photograph by Michael Hall. Te Papa

    Domestic repatriation

    Returning Māori and Moriori ancestral remains to iwi (tribes) Māori and imi Moriori across Aotearoa New Zealand and Rēkohu Chatham Islands.

  • A stylised photo of an inlet surrounded by bush.

    Watch: Contemporary Museum Conversations – Oceania collections and ancestral remains

    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.