In a repatriation ceremony at the National Museum of Australia on Wednesday, two Kōimi T’chakat Moriori – Moriori ancestors – were handed back to their traditional custodians.

Representatives of the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, trustees Belinda Williamson and Jared Watty, took their ancestors (karāpuna) into their care after the ceremony, which was the culmination of two years of negotiations between the NMA, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of NZ and the Moriori community.

The ancestral home of the Moriori people is on the islands of Rēkohu and Rangihaute to the southeast of NZ, but the karāpuna will initially be brought to Wellington, to be held in Te Papa alongside around 512 other Kōimi T’chakat Moriori until the Moriori determine the right time for them to be returned to Rēkohu and Rangihaute (Chatham and Pitt Islands).

The two ancestral remains returned were identified through handwritten inscriptions.

They were originally part of the former Australian Institute of Anatomy’s holdings and have been with the NMA since 2022, when they were returned by the Australian National University.