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.
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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.