Overview
- The Australian Museum sent 17 skulls and one sample of hair to Rapa Nui, with the remains arriving in Santiago on July 17 before being flown to the island for a welcome ceremony.
- The bones were taken from Rapa Nui in 1882 during a German naval expedition and were acquired by the Australian Museum in 1883, records show.
- Museum leaders publicly apologized, saying the remains were removed without consent under colonial practices and calling the return an act of moral responsibility.
- Rapa Nui elders received the Ivi Tupuna in traditional rites and will govern their care and reintegration according to community protocols that restore spiritual roles tied to ahu sites.
- The handover is part of a wider, ongoing campaign to repatriate items taken in the 19th and 20th centuries and is likely to increase pressure on institutions such as the British Museum to return moai and other cultural objects.