Guernsey, 25 October 2013
The Guernsey Museum has announced the return to New Zealand of the mummified head of a Maori warrior. The repatriation took place during a ceremony which was held on 21 October at Castle Cornet. According to the director of the Guernsey Museum, Dr Jason Monaghan, the head of the warrior chief is entirely covered in tattoos, which is a sign of his importance. The delegation from New Zealand, which consisted of Maori representatives and members of the New Zealand government and the National Museum of New Zealand, is heading next to the United Kingdom and Ireland in order to recover other relics of human remains.
Maori heads, which have been spread across the world, have been the object of a political drive for repatriation by the New Zealand authorities. As such, France has passed a law authorising the decommission of the 21 heads in its national collection, with the aim of returning them to New Zealand.