The Australian Museum has returned 18 ancestral remains to the people of Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island). The news was reported by the Art Newspaper following a July 27 announcement by Chile’s National Cultural Heritage Service.
The repatriated human remains (known locally as Ivi Tupuna) include 17 skulls and one sample of hair, which have been in the museum’s collection since the late 19th century. They were among a number of objects and remains removed from Rapa Nui by an 1882 German naval expedition and were acquired by the Australian Museum in 1883.
The remains were returned in a ceremony at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile, before being flown to Rapa Nui. In attendance were the Chilean undersecretary of cultural heritage, Emilio De la Cerda and representatives of the Rapa Nui Council of Elders or Te Mau Hatu, the Easter Island Development Commission (CODEIPA), the Australian Embassy in Chile, and Australian Museum.
“We are experiencing a moment of profound emotion and justice for the Rapa Nui people,” said Carlos Edmuns Paoa, president of the Rapa Nui Council of Elders. “The return of our Ivi Tupuna allows our ancestors to return to the place where they always belonged, strengthening our memory, our spirituality, and the bond with our future generations. We are grateful for the commitment of the Australian Museum and all the institutions that made this restitution process possible, which represents a new step in repairing a history marked by dispossession.”
After the remains’ arrival at Rapa Nui, the community welcomed them in a traditional ceremony. Protocols defined by the people of Rapa Nui dictate their future care and protection.
The restitution is part of a continuing effort by the Rapa Nui community to recover items taken from the island during the 19th and 20th centuries and that today remain in collections of museums and institutions around the world. The British Museum, for instance, has faced calls from the community to return two moais, or carved basalt figures of ancestor spirits, removed from the island by the crew of the British ship HMS Topaze in 1868.
