At a repatriation ceremony held on Saturday, 29 February 2020, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge handed over the iwi kūpuna (ancestral remains) of 21 native Hawaiian individuals to representatives from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The ancestral remains, collected in the mid-to-late 19th century, previously formed part of the Duckworth Laboratory Collection in the University’s Department of Archaeology. The Duckworth Laboratory is one of the largest research repositories of human and non-human primate skeletal remains in the world.
Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge said: “The University of Cambridge is honoured to be able to return the iwi kūpuna to their ancestral home. The iwi kūpuna came to be in Cambridge many decades ago and it is only appropriate that we now do what we can to help them complete their journey. I am sorry that their journey home has been so long interrupted but I hope they may now travel in peace.”
Sylvia Hussey, Office of Hawaiian Affairs Ka Pouhana (Chief Executive Officer) said: “OHA continues to prioritise the international repatriation of iwi kūpuna, moepū (funerary possessions) and mea kapu (sacred objects) and is pleased that this effort was successful and that the team of experts assembled will continue the sacred work to restore our ancestral Hawaiian foundation.”
The ceremony at the Department of Archaeology was attended by senior officers and members of the University and a visiting delegation from Hawaii.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs delegates included:
- Mehana Hind, OHA Community Engagement Director
- Edward Halealoha Ayau, former Executive Director, Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawaiʻi Nei
- Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu, assistant specialist, American Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
- Mana Caceres, cultural practitioner
- Keoki Pescaia, cultural practitioner
The University of Cambridge delegates included:
- Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
- Ms Emma Rampton, Registrary of the University of Cambridge
- Professor Cyprian Broodbank, Head of Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
- Professor Nicholas Thomas, Director of Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Cambridge
- Professor Annie Coombes, Department of History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London
- Professor Marie-Louise Sorensen, member of the University of Cambridge Human Remains Advisory Panel
- Dr Tamsin O’Connell, Acting Director of the Duckworth Laboratory, University of Cambridge
- Dr Trish Biers, Collections Manager of the Duckworth Laboratory, University of Cambridge
- Dr Dacia Viejo Rose, Department of Archaeology Ethics Review Board, University of Cambridge
- Dr Rihlat Said Mohamed, Department of Archaeology Ethics Review Board, University of Cambridge
- Dr Emma Pomeroy, Department of Archaeology Ethics Review Board, University of Cambridge
- Dr Lila Janik, Department of Archaeology Ethics Review Board, University of Cambridge
- Mrs Anna O’Mahony, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
- Ms Laure Bonner, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
The decision to repatriate the iwi kūpuna was taken by the University’s Human Remains Advisory Panel following an application by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
