Germany returns remains of Indigenous people to New Zealand

A repatriation team in 2012 carry 20 Maori mummified tattooed heads, also known as toi moko, during a Maori welcome ceremony at Te Papa Museum in Wellington. The tattooed heads were handed over by French officials at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris after a four-year political struggle [File: Marty Melville/AFP]

The remains of 95 Indigenous New Zealanders as well as artefacts and cultural treasures have been returned to New Zealand from museums and universities in Germany.

The ancestral remains of the 95 Maori and Moriori individuals, including six toi moko – Maori mummified tattooed heads – were welcomed to Te Papa, New Zealand’s national museum, in a private ceremony on Wednesday.