The Australian Museum returns remains of Rapa Nui ancestors to Easter Island

The Australian Museum has returned ancestral remains to Easter Island, signaling another repatriation to the island. In 1882, a German naval expedition led by Captain Wilhelm Geiseler removed human remains and objects from Rapa Nui, now known as Easter Island, after it was incorporated into Chile in 1888. The Australian Museum acquired 17 skulls and a hair sample shortly after.

Carlos Edmunds Paoa, president of the Council of the Elders of Rapa Nui, expressed that "for us, they are our ancestors. Each bone will go back to its original place. They will return to the ahu." The ahu are ceremonial platforms where moai statues, placed by leg bones, arm bones, and skulls after a tribal chief's death, continue to protect the people.

The bone extraction occurred during a time when museums, universities, and private collectors across Europe, the US, and Australia competed to acquire remains and objects from distant lands. Laura McBride, director for First Nations at the Australian Museum, acknowledged the harm caused by the colonial system that led to the ancestors' removal without consent.

The museum apologized for this past wrong and emphasized the moral responsibility of returning the remains. The Rapa Nui community worked closely with the museum during the restitution process. The remains arrived in Santiago on July 17 and were flown to Rapa Nui, where a repatriation ceremony was held at the airport and another ceremony was conducted on the island.

Located in the Pacific Ocean, Easter Island, a 164 sq. km volcanic island, is the easternmost outpost of Polynesia. In 1995, Unesco designated the Rapa Nui National Park, covering 44% of the island, as a World Heritage Site. The Rapa Nui community continues to reclaim its heritage, with the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo recently returning 11 boxes of bone remains and archaeological pieces to the island.