The preserved tattooed heads of three Maori warriors, hidden away in a Glasgow museum for decades, began their return home to New Zealand yesterday.
The relics of Britain's imperial past had been kept under lock and key at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and never put on display since being donated
to the museum early last century.
The first head was purchased by Glasgow Corporation in 1906 from James Conrad Cross, a Liverpudlian who ran a menagerie and later went on to become mayor.
It is thought he may have obtained the head from a curiosity shop owned by a relative.
The other remains were donated to the city of Glasgow in 1951 by Archibald Shanks, a chemist and amateur natural historian, who had bought them from the Blair Museum at Dalry in 1901.
According to Mr Shanks's diary of the time, one of the heads was that of a Tecaro Chief of Wycota, New Zealand, killed in battle by Wa Tero Great Chief of Coweri.
Although that was noted about the second head was that it was of a New Zealand Chief who had had 40 wives.
However last year, after a worldwide search for Maori remains Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand, wrote to Glasgow Museums requesting the return of the heads.
Yesterday a delegation from Te Papa in Wellington arrived in Glasgow to take possession of the remains, which also included a thigh bone.
"These are the remains of the dead ancestors of someone," said James Te Puni, of Te Papa.
"They will be someone's great, great grandfather back in New Zealand, so it's important that they be returned home."
Experts in New Zealand will begin carrying out tests to identify which tribe the remain of the Toi Moko come from and then return them for tribal burial.
The repatriation follows a policy introduced by Glasgow city council to return artefacts to their rightful homes.
- INDEPENDENT
