Art collections return human remains to New Zealand

Human remains have been returned to New Zealand by ethnographic groups of Saxony. Samples of Maori hair and bones from New Zealand and Moriori from the Chatham Islands were returned at a ceremony in Leipzig on Tuesday.

Specifically, they’re bone and hair samples from 64 people, the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD) announced. Officials from New Zealand also attended the ceremony. Plaster casts of eight Maori were also returned. She said the indigenous community understood them as ancestors. Also brought home a lethal good. It is a wooden club taken from a grave with three individuals.

According to information, the bones are the result of serious looting and victims of violent conflicts. They came to Dresden between 1870 and 1905 by purchase or as a gift. According to the information, the return is part of a series of Germany-wide repatriations to New Zealand in May and June. Museums from Stuttgart, Hildesheim, Mannheim and Göttingen are also participating.

Saxony’s Minister of Culture, Barbara Klisch (CDU), described the return as an important step in dealing with the colonial legacy of Saxony’s Free State groups. SKD General Director Marion Ackermann emphasized that her foundation no longer viewed human bones in the Anthropological Collection as scientific objects and collectors’ items, but as human remains.

Free State first met a return request in 2017, from Hawaii. Most of the bones came to Saxony during the colonial period and are preserved there in anthropological collections.

In 2019, the first talks took place with representatives from New Zealand. At that time it was agreed to prepare to return. New Zealand has been pursuing the so-called repatriation of human remains since 2003. Representatives who traveled to Leipzig on Tuesday said the return offered a path to reconciliation. “The museum’s genuine commitment to bringing home the original bones allows our country to shed light on a very dark period in our history,” said Te Hirkiki Hireweni.