Te Tai Tokerau kōiwi (ancestral remains) to return home from Vienna

The tupuna and karapuna (ancestors) laid on the Te Atamira (stage) at Te Papa. Photo/Te Papa

At least 20 koiwi (ancestral remains) are due to be returned to Te Tai Tokerau thanks to a repatriation effort from Austria to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Last week Te Papa welcomed home Māori and Moriori ancestral remains, in the first and largest repatriation from the Natural History Museum in Vienna, Austria.

A moving pōwhiri marked the return of the kōiwi whose remains represented about 64 individuals.

Through examining museum archives and journals, it's understood most of these ancestors were taken from Rēkohu Wharekauri (Chatham Islands), Whanganui, Ōtautahi Christchurch, Lyttelton, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and wāhi tapu throughout Te Taitokerau including Whangaroa and Taiharuru.

The Iwi delegation arrive on to Rongomaraeroa, carrying the tupuna and karapuna through and the Waha Roa and Ranginui doors at Te Papa's repatriation powhiri. Photo/Te Papa

Records indicated 49 of these ancestors were collected by Austrian taxidermist and notorious grave-robber Andreas Reischek who spent 12 years in New Zealand from 1877 to 1889.

Of those, 20 represented kōiwi from Te Tai Tokerau, with at least two from Whangaroa.

According to Te Papa, the remains included calvaria (skulls without mandibles), craniums, loose mandibles and maxilla fragments.

Around 60 people made up the Te Tai Tokerau delegation who attended the ceremony at Te Papa in Wellington.

Te Rūnanga o Whaingaroa representative Raniera Kaio was one of those and said of the Whangaroa ancestral remains, they were believed to have come from Maunga (mount) Taratara in Otangaroa.

Behind (L-R) Sailor Morgan, Kura Moeahu, Kenny King, Arapeta Hakiwai, Robert Manual.Front: Bree Davis, Raniera Kaio, Pou Temara, Teresa Tepania-Ashton, Pat Tauroa, Paraone Gloyne. Photo/supplied.

Kaio said the ceremony to welcome home the kōiwi had been very moving and looked forward to eventually welcoming home his own tūpuna kōiwi to Whangaroa.

"In my whaikōrero (speech) I said to them, 'please hear my voice, one of your own and be rest assured that we will return you back to the warmth of your own whenua in time'," Kaio said.

"It was a very emotional occasion and there is no better place to witness the beauty of Māori culture than our ceremonial funeral practices.

"Even some hardened kaumātua were teary-eyed, it was definitely an experience of a lifetime."

Kaio explained the Whangaroa hapū were first approached by Te Papa's repatriation programme, Karanga Aotearoa, in 2017.

He said due to Covid-19, however, discussions around the return of the kōiwi were postponed until late last year.

Following the ceremony, the ancestors are now being held in Te Papa's wāhi tapu (sacred space) while provenance research is undertaken, followed by engagement with whānau, hapu and iwi to determine their final resting place.

L-R: Huhana Lyndon, Pat Tauroa, Teresa Tepania-Ashton and Bree Davis were part of the Whangaroa delegation that travelled to Te Papa. Photo/Raniera Kaio.

"In about a month we'll hold a hui to have a kōrero about when the kōiwi will be returned and how we will welcome them," Kaio said.

"We want to thank Te Papa and Karanga Aotearoa- a small team that has repatriated hundreds of kōiwi since its inception in the early 2000s.

"Their programme is great and is used as an example for indigenous cultures around the world as it has the backing of both the Government and the national museum."

At the ceremony, Professor Sir Pou Temara, Repatriation Advisory Panel chair, acknowledged the importance of the major repatriation.

"These ancestors were stolen by those with no regard for the Māori communities they belonged to," Temara said.

"In his diary entries Reischek boasts of eluding Māori surveillance, looting sacred places and breaking tapu – he knew exactly what he was doing. His actions were wrong and dishonest.

"It is always a spiritual relief and privilege to welcome back our ancestors who have been victims of such wrongdoing.

"Culturally we know that they are weeping with joy now that they have returned to Aotearoa where at last they will rest in peace."

This pivotal repatriation concludes 77 years of negotiation between New Zealand and Austria.

Te Papa's Kaihautū | Māori co-leader Dr Arapata Hakiwai recognised the Natural History Museum, Vienna and the Austrian government for enabling the return of the ancestors.

"These ancestors' journey home has been long-awaited, and is made possible by the mutual agreement of the museum and the Austrian Government," Hakiwai said.

"This historic repatriation helps to reconcile the colonial past and opens a new chapter in relationships between Māori, Moriori, and New Zealand and Austrian governments."

According to Te Papa, the Natural History Museum's formal handover ceremony took place in Vienna and included Tikanga Māori (indigenous cultural customs and protocols).

At the ceremony, Austria's Minister for Arts and Culture Juergen Meindl acknowledged the hurt caused by the theft.

"We deeply regret the disrespectful and unjustified treatment of your ancestors."

In attendance were representatives of the Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation Programme, Dr Arapata Hakiwai, Māori cultural experts and the New Zealand Ambassador to Austria, His Excellency Brian Hewson.