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Oxford return Maori remains

8:34am Friday 1st February 2008

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Oxford University today agreed to return to New Zealand the indigenous human remains obtained by its natural history museum during the 19th century.

The four sets of remains include two Maori skulls, a Moriori skull from the Chatham Islands off New Zealand's east coast and a section of pelvis.

Efforts by New Zealand's national museum, Te Papa, to retrieve the bones began in 2005 as part of a government policy to seek the return of Maori and Moriori remains.

The director of Oxford's Museum of Natural History, Jim Kennedy, said yesterday this was the first repatriation of human remains since a new claims procedure was established by the university in 2006.

"It has enabled us to balance our duty of care for these items, the requirements of science and the sensitivities and beliefs of the claimant community," Prof Kennedy said.

Prof Kennedy said no date had immediately been set for the return of the remains which will be held temporarily by Te Papa before being returned to the relevant Maori and Moriori tribal groups.

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Your Say YourOxford Mail

Donald Wolberg, New Mexico, USA says...
1:37pm Fri 8 Feb 08

One can only wonder at the narrowness of this flood of "give it back" movement of institutions that should know better. Free and open inquiry is the only way science can function and comparative materials form the basis of all specimen based science. Perhaps those in New Zealand studying the evolution of brachiopods should return their collected material, or perhaps South Dakota dinosaurs should not be seen in New Zealand museums. In this age of easy communication, the "where" of specimens is less important than the "what" and it is likely that once all the museums are emptied of borrowed or collected materials, only science and the education of the public will suffer.

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Darlene Murray, Chicago, IL says...
2:43am Sat 9 Feb 08

While the bones may be two hundred years old, they are the bones of someone's ancestor. The repatriation is the HOMECOMING of a relative. Look into the culture which the bones were taken. The Maori culture is rich in tradition to honor and remember the ancestors. Would you want your grandfathers bones in a drawer in the back of some museum? In the whole scheme of things, 200 years is not that long.

Perhaps the history of the 19th century "anthropological" trade is what should be investigated. The arrogance and superiority which led to treating sacred object and people as a commodity should be as extinct as a brachiopod. I find it interesting that the previous comment give examples of creatures (not people) that lived millions of years ago.

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