Ceremony marks return home of kiwi feather cloak
The kahu kiwi, given to a British doctor in 1900, was "crying to come home", Māori campaigners say.
A significant ceremony has taken place in Oxford to commemorate the return of a Māori kiwi feather cloak to New Zealand, marking the culmination of a journey that began more than a century ago. The kahu kiwi, a revered cultural artifact, was originally gifted to Dr George Cleghorn, a British medical doctor who worked in New Zealand during the early 20th century, by Māori leaders in 1900 as a farewell gift.
Following Cleghorn's death in 1913, the cloak was loaned to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford by his widow. Recently, the Homebound Project, a charity organization, spearheaded the efforts to bring the sacred item back to its ancestral homeland. Dr Lorraine Eade, chair of Ngāti Rārua o Te Wairau Society, expressed deep reverence for the return, stating that the cloak's coming home is "beyond measure" and emphasizes the profound significance of the Māori connection to their cultural treasures.
Dr Cleghorn's legacy is also celebrated, as he championed the rights of Māori people to receive medical care closer to home and educated families on public health measures. The return of the kahu kiwi is seen as a momentous occasion, restoring mana and honoring the cultural and emotional ties to this treasured taonga.
Brief written by urgent.news from BBC News's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
