The University of Göttingen brings Aboriginal bones back to New Zealand

Göttingen – Since the summer of 2020, a team of scientists has been examining more than 1,000 human remains at the University of Göttingen to learn about their colonial past. Now the university has returned the bones that were illegally in its possession.

The bones of what are believed to be 32 people were returned to New Zealand by the University of Göttingen. Human remains were once part of the university’s scientific collections as colonial plunder. At a ceremony in Göttingen on Thursday, university rector Metin Tolan apologized for the theft of bones during colonial times.

Tolan spoke of a dark history for science and emphasized that the origin of the additional skulls must be established in order to trace them back. The 32 bones that have now been handed over are human remains of Maori and Moriori ancestors.

Representatives of New Zealand and the two ethnic groups present in Göttingen expressed their gratitude and presented the university with a gift. “We carry your words in our hearts,” researcher Kiwa Hammond said at the ceremony, which was accompanied by choir and singing from the New Zealand delegation.

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The New Zealand delegation will also receive human remains in other German cities in the coming days, including Hildesheim on Saturday.

The return to Göttingen is part of the international research project “Sensible Provenances”, which is looking into the colonial past of more than 1,000 human remains in the university’s collections.