Maori wooden carvings to be repatriated today after 130 years in South Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Two large Maori wooden carvings will be repatriated to Aotearoa New Zealand today after 130 years at the South Australian Museum. Speaking about the carvings and repatriation are Pohatu Paku from the Maori group Tamatea Pokai Whenua and South Australian Museum repatriation manager Anna Russo.

Transcript

00:00Just over 130 years ago, these carvings were commissioned by Karaitiyana Takamoana.

00:12These two carved po behind us consist of four figures, all of which carry meaningful heritage

00:22stories for us.

00:24So you're one of the descendants of the Chiefs who commissioned these carvings.

00:29What's the process been like of getting them back?

00:34Very humbling, very meaningful and very healing in many ways to be able to see and be part

00:40of the process of this journey, yes.

00:44We're just seeing some of the original pictures of them.

00:49Where are they going to go when they are returned?

00:53At this stage, they're going to be returned to our office.

00:59We will have them on display until a facility is built for them.

01:05Hopefully shortly.

01:06Okay.

01:07Anna, this is a tricky issue like a lot of museums around the world are grappling with at the

01:12moment.

01:13How does your institution manage repatriation of objects like this?

01:18James, the Museum Board has adopted policy here at the South Australian Museum for Restitution

01:24of Cultural Heritage.

01:26So we have a framework in place that looks at criteria and circumstances under which those

01:32objects were originally acquired and assesses them against claims made by traditional custodians.

01:39We rely on human rights frameworks and the United Nations protocols to ensure that we're

01:45speaking to the right people about the right objects and getting them home in ways that

01:50are mutually beneficial and respectful to both the traditional custodian communities and also

01:58to improve our way of interpreting material here at the South Australian Museum.

02:02We're just seeing some pictures from the museum now.

02:04And what's going to happen at the ceremony today?

02:11So we're going to get together shortly and conclude with some final speeches, some cultural

02:21references before we close these tonga, these carvings, in their travelling containers.

02:29They'll lead the museum through the front doors.

02:32There's a local Māori community that is coming in who's been very excited to engage in the

02:37restitution process here in Adelaide.

02:40And they'll be performing for the tonga on the way out.

02:45And then they'll go into the truck and make their way home.

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