I am pleased with Te Papa. They are doing an important task in repatriating our ancestors. Some of their homes cannot be identified and Te Papa are beginning a process of hui and consultation with maoridom to determine the best course of action for our koiwi tangata. They say it will take two years and I think that is a worthy amount of time to consider this important issue and it is a tribute to the Te Papa team that they recognise it will take a while - too often maori get forced into quick decisions, forced by a pace set by others, hurried and harried - but not in this instance and we can all rejoice in that.
From NZH
Since 2003 the museum's international repatriation programme for koiwi tangata - skeletal remains - has brought home 186 from medical schools and museums abroad.
Te Papa is meant to be just an interim home as researchers try to find where the remains come from. So far they have sent 26 koiwi to 12 iwi.
Repatriation manager Te Herekiekie Herewini said Te Papa held 500 individual koiwi but for about 125 of them it would be difficult or impossible to establish provenance. Te Papa also holds 101 toi moko, which are preserved heads.
There are a couple of options to consider at this stage
Two options include having a putunga kotahi, mausoleum, built in Wellington to house the remains or agreeing to a Ngati Kuri request for burial near Te Rerenga Wairua, Cape Reinga, the place where Maori believe spirits of the dead depart for Hawaiki.
I am in favour of Te Rerenga Wairua. My hope is that these deliberations are not closed to those who wish to learn about maori values. It is up to maori to decide but it is important for everyone and everyone could learn an immense amount by this process. I am sure this will be another point of connection between people.
The degree that a person or taonga is tapu determines the way they are treated. But the nature of tapu is not easily understood without the cultural context. This controversy from Stuff, where pregnant or menstruating women were advised that they shouldn't attend because of the tapu nature, is an example where the context was not created. The email that was sent said,
"An invitation for regional museum staff to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of some of Te Papa's collections included the condition that "wahine who are either hapu [pregnant] or mate wahine [menstruating]" were unable to attend."
"Unable to attend" is the offending statement, this was modified into
"Te Papa insists the request is not an outright ban.
"If there are pregnant women who want to go on the tour we don't stop them. But we do prefer they respect the belief." Te Papa spokeswoman Jane Keig said."
The belief is articulated as
"There are items within that collection that have been used in sacred rituals. That rule is in place with consideration for both the safety of the taonga and the women," Keig said.
She said there was a belief that each taonga had its own wairua, or spirit, inside it.
"Pregnant women are sacred and the policy is in place to protect women from these objects."
I'm not saying that isn't a bad effort but where is the context and why was the email framed in the way it was. We do have a strong maori voice in Mutu who says,
"Margaret Mutu, head of Maori Studies at Auckland University, said women should not be offended by the request."
"The reproduction area is extremely powerful and can do damage to things that are not tapu. It's about the power of women, not about stopping them."
Mutu said the objects were obviously dangerous and the hapu they came from would have told the museum about how to treat them.
"They are tapu and pregnant or menstruating women are tapu. It would be very unwise to put the two up against each other."
Now we start to get some idea of the world view where tapu 'go up against each other'. Protecting against offence in either direction is very important. This would be an interesting national discussion, we would all learn a great deal - but instead, because of the lack of mana in dealing with these taonga and views, we are about to have a three-ring circus.
FOOTNOTE - Lew at Kiwipolitico has an awesome response to the controversy and also Andrew Geddis from Pundit is fighting the good fight - this is great to see - strong advocates for maori actually battling in the trenches for maori.
The return of Toi Moko from France is a good decision. Thank you to all concerned. All of our people should be bought home.
From NZH
"The French National Assembly decided to adopt a law so toi moko (mummified Maori heads) held in French institutions can be returned to New Zealand.
Since 2003, New Zealand has sought to repatriate Toi Moko and koiwi tangata Maori (Maori ancestral remains) from museums around the world.
Toi moko and koiwi tangata form part of some museum collections of Pacific artefacts dating from the 19th century. Almost 40 institutions worldwide have collaborated in similar repatriations so far.
"This is a matter of great significance to Maori," said Dr Sharples. "Maori believe that, through their ancestors' return to their original homeland, their dignity is restored, and they can be put to rest in peace among their families."
Toi moko and koiwi tangata are repatriated to Te Papa on an interim basis, and Te Papa works closely with iwi to determine their attributed place of origin, for eventual burial where possible on ancestral lands.
This is the way to do it, well done to Te Papa.
My only concern around this issue is that everytime there is a TV item on this, they show the Toi Moko - this seems very disrespectful to me.
I have commented a few times about this issue and guess what - they are already doing it. Thank you Te Papa you are making us proud. A great story from 3 News
"The second-largest international repatriation of Maori human remains has taken place at Te Papa in Wellington.
They have been returned to New Zealand from five museums throughout the UK and Europe.
Te Papa's Michelle Hippolite says it is a step towards restoring the dignity of the dead.
The remains will never be displayed at Te Papa.
The museum sees its role as a guardian to find homes for the hundreds of homeless. So far around 332 ancestral remains have been repatriated from 12 countries, but there are still about 500 remains waiting to be brought home.
There are not enough clues about where to return a third of the remains, and finding the rightful place can take up to four years, so until then Te Papa is where they'll rest.
It really doesn't get better than that.
Our history is being revealed bit by bit - and it is wonderful.
"A treasure trove of artefacts recovered from Papanui Inlet on Otago Peninsula may lead to the area becoming a site of national significance."
"The find has prompted Otakou runanga to call for the site to be nationally recognised."
Yes protect this area and do it quick.
"Runanga manager Hoani Langsbury said a meeting would be held next month between the various stakeholders, including the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and the Department of Conservation, to discuss the area's future.
"We don't want to keep people away from the area, just increase the amount of monitoring we do."
To deter treasure-hunters, the exact location of the find is being kept secret.
The funny thing is that there are thousands of these types of sites and discoveries waiting to be revealed - but we won't see or find them if we are mining everywhere - will we gerry.
"Fossicking is deemed illegal under the Historic Places Act 1993."
I didn't know that but if anything is ever found - contact the local iwi. I know of taonga being revealed, and bones being found by people - they went straight to the iwi. How many adze are being held by farmers and fossickers in their houses, without anyone knowing? Thousands at least.
"The find highlighted the significance of the area for Maori, who can be traced in the area back to the 14th century."
The area had been frequented by Ngai Tahu and Kati Mamoe, and bones were still found, although whether it could have been a burial site was unclear, Mr Langsbury said.
Don't forget the Waitaha - who form Ngai Tahu whanui - we are only here because of our whakapapa to those lines. And the area has had people there for a lot longer than the 14th centrury - a lot longer - and this is known. Hard to keep that sentence in, on reflection.
"While it was unclear what would happen to the recovered items, they might be offered to Otago Museum or, in the case of items with "national significance", to Te Papa.
That would be a big waste and affront to the mana of the taonga and Ngai Tahu whanui IMO.
I appreciate that there can be difficulties, if not impossibilities, in determining where human remains come from. Recently here, we have had koiwi tangata (skeletal remains) and four toi moko returned from overseas, and that is good. They will be recieved at Te Papa, and that is good. I don't know what happens then. But the repatriation of human remains is happening in other places too, like this
"The remains of a dozen Native American warriors of the Yaqui tribe have been laid to rest following a two-year campaign to rescue them from a New York museum."
The museum said it was the first time it had "turned over cultural patrimony to a foreign government that immediately returned it to the indigenous people".
"They would not be at peace with their souls and conscience until they got their people back to their land," said Jose Antonio Pompa of Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.
and
"On Monday afternoon, on the slope of a mountain near the Yaqui village of Vicam, the 12 sets of remains were "baptized" to give them names that have been lost to history.
They were given a warriors' honor guard, and amid drumming, chants and traditional "deer" and "coyote" dances, each was laid to rest in the ground they had been striving to return to when they were slaughtered.
The bones were forgotten in museum storage until Perez and anthropologist Andrew Darling, who works for the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, started to study them in 2007 and realized their gruesome story.
The Pascua Yaqui tribe of Arizona took up the fight to have the bones returned.
"The approach we use is that we are one people ... the border is just an artificial concept," said Robert Valencia, vice chairman of the Pascua Yaquis.
U.S. Indian remains are protected under the North American Indian Graves Protection Act. But because the law doesn't cover Mexican remains held in the U.S., the Arizona tribe contacted the Mexican Yaquis and they in turn contacted the Mexican government, which also decided to get involved.
The remains were honored by Yaqui on both sides of the border, spurring the tribes' hopes for recognition of their status as a single people who have long lived in both countries — in Sonora and in southern Arizona near Tucson.
The remains were packed into ceremonial wooden boxes and taken first to Tucson, where they were given a hero's welcome by Pascua Yaquis, including an honor guard of Indian veterans of the U.S. Army.
"That is why the warriors' role is important, because when we make territorial claims, it is because Yaqui blood was spilled there," said Mexican Yaqui elder Ernesto Arguelles, 59. "This is the first opportunity we have had to stop and mourn."
I am pleased that your people have returned back to you - well done on succeeding against insurmountable odds.
Hat tip
The Buffalo Post
Good - they are coming home - now Te Papa, give our people back to our people. Don't perpetuate the abuse by keeping them in locked vaults or display cases - give them back and let them really come home to their people i say!
"Te Papa will this month repatriate ancestral Maori remains from five European institutions.
The remains of 33 Maori would return to New Zealand from the National Museum of Wales, Gothenburg Natural History Museum in Sweden, the Museum of World Culture in Sweden, Glasgow University's Hunterian Museum in Scotland, and Trinity College in the Republic of Ireland."
"The majority of the remains were koiwi tangata (skeletal remains) and four toi moko (tattooed preserved heads).
The remains would be welcomed on to Te Papa's marae in a ceremony on November 30.
Te Papa's acting chief executive Michelle Hippolite said the repatriation was "both a time for sad reflection on the turbulent journeys these ancestors experienced and, at the same time, a cause for joy and hope as they are returned".
She thanked the institutions involved for their decisions to repatriate the remains and their support in planning the repatriation."
The real joy and hope will be when they are returned to their descendants, not kept in some institution.
Footnote - Just to clarify - I am not against museums and the great work they do. But imagine if there was an effort to take taonga back to the people. Celebrations, building, training, learning, storytelling, all of those things could be developed to turn the returning into a celebration for everyone. Start small, test it out, see if it works. Talk to iwi. But until move along that path a bit I do appreciate all of the efforts to protect our treasures - thanks and please don't stop doing it - but let's start to create a new paradigm, a new way of honouring our past and our shared future.
