Tekau mā whitu ngā kōiwi Māori, Morimori anō hoki kua whakahokia mai ki Aotearoa mai i Amerika me Tiamana. I pōwhiritia ōkawatia ngā toi moko me ngā kōiwi tangata ki Rongomaraeroa Marae ki Te Papa Tongarewa.
Kei te tangi te reo pōwhiri ki ngā kōiwi kua roa e ngaro nei.
Ko Te Herekiekie Herewini te tumu o te whakahoki kōiwi ki Te Papa, arā hei tāna, “E tangi te ngākau mō rātau ka noho rātau kei tāwāhi mō ngā tau nui ake i te kotahi rau.”
Head of Repatriation at Te Papa, Te Herekiekie
Ko tā Tamahou Temara o Toi Māori Aotearoa, “E hono ai ō rātau wairua ki te wāhi i taunahatia ai rātau, ki te wāhi i kotia o rātau nā pito, ki te wāhi i tanuku ai rātau ki te whenua.
Hei tā Te Herekiekie Herewini he mea hokohoko ngā kōiwi taketake i ngā rau tau kua taha ake.
“Ka whāwhā haere ngā ringa i roto i ngā wāhi tapu o te ao Māori, ka tāhae, ka hoko atu wēnei tūpuna ki tāwahi,” te kī a Herewini.
Kua whakahokia mai ngā kōiwi i raro i te maru o te hōtaka Kāwanatanga, arā, ko Karanga Aotearoa. Nō te tau 2003 rewa ake ai, me te aha, neke atu i 450 ngā kōiwi tangata kua hoki mai i ngā whare taonga o te ao whānui.
Hei tā Tamahou Temara, “Ko ngā tāngata pēnei i a Maui Pomare, i a Tā Graham Latimer, me tō tātau Kūini Māori hoki i a Te Atairangikaahu, nā rātau i whakatō i te whakaaro ki roto i ngā whare taonga pēnei i a Te Papa Tongarewa nei.”
Hei tā Te Herekiekie Herewini he tokomaha tonu ngā kōiwi Māori kei ngā pātaka whare taonga o Aotearoa, e noho ana.
“Me tono atu ki a rātau kia hoki ngā tīpuna ki o rātau hau kāenga ki o rātau whānau hapū iwi kei waenganui i a Aotearoa,” te kī a Herewini.
Ka takoto ngā kōiwi ki te wāhi tapu o Te Papa Tongarewa, ki reira ka hahu ake i ō rātau tātai whakapapa.
