September 16, 2014
Milwaukee returns toi moko
Another tupuna is returning home.
In a ceremony in Wisconsin today, the Milwaukee Public Museum today returned a toi moko to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Te Papa will hold the tatooed head until its iwi of origin is established.
The museum bought the 19th century taonga in 1970 from a Milwaukee art gallery, but its president and chief executive Dennis Kois says out of respect for Maori and their customs the board has decided to deaccession and return it.
Te Papa acting chief executive Arapata Hakiwai says there is an encouraging shift in attitude among overseas institutions about the repatriation of ancestral remains, and gradually ancestors are returning home.
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