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Karetu Marae ©Ngati Manu
Whanganui Museum has returned koiwi to Ngati Manu after DNA testing of the koiwi showed the seven skeletons were most likely to have come from around Opua in the Bay of Islands.
The bones are believed to have been stolen from the area last century.
Hapu spokesperson Arapeta Hamilton says the return at Karetu Marae became a tangi for the unknown ancestors, who were then buried into one of the oldest wahi tapu.
He is sure there are other ancestors out there who will be returned some day.
Ngati Manu sought advice from one of its matakite or seers to confirm the koiwi likely belonged there.
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