Listen Now: 
July 08, 2022
Thanks from Moriori for museum return of kōimi t’chakat
Claudette Hauiti
Posted On July 8, 2022
Download AudioA Moriori rangatira has thanked museums from around the world for returning the bones of his ancestors.
A hokomaurahiri repatriation ceremony was held at Te Papa this morning for koiwi or ko’imi from London’s Museum of Natural History as well as from museum and university collections in Aotearoa.
Maui Solomon says they are the remains of once-living, breathing human beings who will now be given the respect and dignity they deserve.
“They were taken from their home and so now they are going to be returned and the proper respect shown to them so just want to acknowledge the museums who have been the repositories of these ko’imi over the past 100 years or so,” he says.
The ko’imi will return to Rēkohu and their final resting place in Kopinga Marae in 2025.
RELATED NEWS
