Over 300 krigshoveder er nu vendt tilbage til New Zealand efter en større kampagne
The mummified, tattooed head of an ancient Maori warrior is to be returned to New Zealand after spending decades in a French museum, writes BBC online Sunday.
The handover of the “toi moko” follows years of campaigning by New Zealand officials and Maori elders. It has been held at the Museum of Rouen in northern France since 1875.
More than 300 such heads have been returned from several countries since New Zealand began requesting their return. The “toi moko” in Rouen is thought to be one of some 15 similar relics in French possession and one of about 500 around the world.
A traditional ceremony with incantations (besværgelsesformularer) will be carried out in Rouen’s town hall on Monday to hand the head over to representatives of Wellington’s Te Papa museum, who are touring Europe collecting the relics.
The Maori traditionally kept tribal heads as war trophies, but they later became much sought after by Western explorers. They were in such demand that men were believed to have been killed specifically for their heads and slaves were said to have been tattooed and then killed.
Once back in New Zealand, DNA tests will be carried out on the remains where necessary to determine the correct ancestral lands for a proper burial.
New Zealand hedder også Aotearoa, som kan oversættes med “Landet under den lange hvide sky”. Det skyldes, at de første maori-udvandrere så en stor lang sky i horisonten, da de fik landet – og dets høje bjerge – i sigte for første gang engang i slutningen af 1200-tallet.
I 2010 talte maorierne godt 660.000 eller ca.15 pct. af New Zealands indbyggertal.
