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German museums return human remains to New Zealand
Dealing with colonial injustice
Museums return human remains of Aboriginal ancestors to New Zealand
In the ethnological collections of the Rees-Engelhorn Museums there are three mummified heads of New Zealand Maori. On April 25, 2023, the local council decided to return these heads to New Zealand. Exhibits in other German museums will also be returned to New Zealand.
© Source: Julian Rettig / German News Agency
Stuttgart, Wiesbaden. The state of Baden-Württemberg returned the remains of Maori and Moriori ancestors to New Zealand in a solemn ceremony at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart. The human skulls and ceremonial tableware were part of the collections of the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart and the Linden Museum, the Ministry of Science announced Tuesday in Stuttgart. It was returned to representatives of the Maori community and the Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum in New Zealand.
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Read more after the announcement
“We can finally return the remains of our ancestors to where they belong,” said Te Herkiki Hirwini of the National Museum. Despite the long period in which the human remains had no connection to their homeland, their cultural connection remains “across time and distance.”
Science Minister Petra Olszczowski (Greens) said that with the return, the country is fulfilling its historical responsibility. It is also of great personal concern to her that “the numerous human remains that were taken from former colonial territories without the consent of their relatives or even by force” were returned.
Read more after the announcement
Read more after the announcement
Dealing with colonial injustice
For Stuttgart’s director of the Linden Museum, Ines de Castro, returning to New Zealand is an important step in the process of coming to terms with colonial injustice.
The ceremony was part of a larger initiative to bring ancestors back to New Zealand from German museums. Under the guidance of Te Hrikiki Hirwini, human remains are also being transported to New Zealand from the Ries-Engelhorn Museums Mannheim, the Grasse-Museum Leipzig, the University of Göttingen, the Hildesheim Roman and Plesius Museum, and the Wiesbaden Museum.
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