Museums and Restitution: An Introduction

This chapter explains recent initiatives in the repatriation of artefacts and human remains in museums, and then analyses a case study concerning the meeting house Te Hau ki Turanga at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. In New Zealand as elsewhere, there has been a great deal of apprehension among museum professionals about the apparent threat repatriation poses to their museum collections. Today, repatriation in the New Zealand museum sector includes the more common return of human remains and the less frequent return of artefacts. Current museum practice is moving very quickly with repatriation and seems to be well ahead of museum history and theory, and scholars therefore need to look carefully at what is happening and consider the implications. International museums have much to learn from the New Zealand situation, where several museums are proactively working with tribes to resolve their differences and explore ways of jointly managing their cultural heritage.