Moriori ancestors’ remains returned after years in Canberra

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Ancestral remains of several Moriori people, who are considered part of the indigenous population of New Zealand alongside the Maori have begun their journey home from Australia after a handover ceremony in Canberra.

Transcript

00:00The ceremony took place here at the National Museum of Australia, where the bones of two

00:06Mori Ordi ancestors have been held since 2022, after they were transferred from the former

00:12Australian Institute of Anatomy.

00:18The remains were likely stolen from their home on Rokoko, Raniote or Chatham Islands

00:23between the late 1800s and 1930s.

00:26Speeches at the ceremony acknowledged the long history of collecting and looting indigenous

00:31remains by museums and academic institutions.

00:34The return of these ancestors was recognised as an important act of respect, acknowledgement

00:39and cultural restoration.

00:42I'm actually feeling excited as well to arrive back in Aotearoa and to meet other

00:51who will share in this excitement and healing process of reconnection through this repatriation.

00:59Mori Ordi are the other indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand.

01:06Most people know about Tangata Whenua Maori, but Mori Ordi were the first settlers of Rekohu

01:12Chatham Islands and they arrived, as Maori did to Aotearoa, directly from eastern Polynesia.

01:18They'll now be brought to the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papua, where they'll be held alongside

01:22hundreds of other Mori Ordi.

01:24They'll stay there until it's determined the time is right for the ancestors to return

01:29to their home.

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