Oxford University agreed to return four sets of human remains currently held in the University Museum of Natural History back to New Zealand. This is the first time the University decided to return human remains to the same community of origin.
The official claims request was made by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in January 2007, and asked for the Maori and Moriori remains acquired by Oxford during the 19th century. The remains include two Maori skulls, a Maori half pelvis and a female Moriori skull from Chatham Island. Te Papa began their repatriation initiative in the summer of 2005 as part of the New Zealand Government’s policy.
The repatriation reflects the University’s new claims procedure established in 2006. The procedure requires assessment of the significance of the remains for education and research when considering repatriation requests. The University is also required to ensure that remains are returned safely to the appropriate community when claims are approved.
Results of the University’s inaugural claims request confirmed that the remains were from New Zealand and concluded that the items are not unique items, of no particular use in study of relevant fields.
Director of the Oxford University Musem of Natural History Professor Jim Kennedy said, “This is the first time that the University’s procedure for repatriation has been used. 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.”
"It has been a pleasure working with Te Papa, who have provided us with extensive information and background material that enabled us to move through this process relatively swiftly and reach a decision,” he added.
The human remains will in due course be returned to Te Papa first, which will then repatriate the items to the relevant Maori and Moriori tribal groups.
