With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Maori heads to be returned to NZ

Three preserved Maori heads will be returned to New Zealand after decades in a Glasgow museum.
The tattooed heads, and a thigh bone, are believed to belong to Maori chiefs killed in battle in the 19th century.

They were donated to the Kelvingrove Museum, although they have never been shown in public.

A delegation from New Zealand's national museum Te Papa arrives in Glasgow on Monday to return the heads and offer them for tribal burial.

In Maori culture the heads are known as toi moko. One was purchased by Glasgow Museums from a Liverpool menagerie in 1906.

The other two were donated to the city by a collector in 1951.

Read entire article at BBC News