Museum to return more human remains to Hawaii

National Museums Northern Ireland (NMNI) is to return further human remains to Hawaii.

Human remains and other sacred objects were previously repatriated by NMNI to Hawaii in 2022.

That came after NMNI had identified some items stolen from other countries or connected to the slave trade among its collections.

It has now located three additional ancestral human remains (iwi kūpuna) taken from Hawaii in 1840 and plans to return them.

Some other museums in the UK have also recently returned items in their collections originally looted from other countries.

Representatives from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) visited the Ulster Museum in 2022 for a ceremony in which two ancestral human remains (iwi kūpuna) and five sacred cultural objects (mea kapu) were returned to Hawaii.

The original repatriation request had included three sets of human remains which could not be located at the time.

But following a review of NMNI's collection, the additional human remains have been found.

The OHA was notified of the find and a formal repatriation ceremony in now expected to take place later in 2025.

Kamakana Ferreira, from the OHA, told BBC News NI that his organisation appreciates the museum's commitment to locating and returning their ancestors.

He said they are "elated" that the other missing iwi kupuna have been found after the museum were unable to locate them in 2021.

"We look forward to returning to Northern Ireland in late April to retrieve our ancestors and laying them to rest upon our return to Hawaii," he added.

William Blair, from the National Museum Northern Ireland Director of Collections, (NMNI) told BBC News NI that the museum was "very pleased" to "address this wrong that was done to the Hawaiian people".

The museum is "fully committed to the rightful repatriation of collections to source communities, to address historic wrongs and implement the decolonisation of collections."

Mr Blair said the museum welcomes the opportunity to learn from partners such as the OHA to undertake this "vital work".

"We're delighted to be able to address these legacy issue and build new and positive relationships in the process based on partnership and respect," he said.

"This is challenging but rewarding work."

He said the remains and sacred objects had been taken from Hawaii in 1840 "without free, prior and informed consent from families" so there was "no great deliberation" in the museum wanting to return them.

He also said that "given the 19th Century provenance of the iwi kῡpuna being brought to Belfast and the lack of professional collection management standards at the time," they had been unable to locate three sets of remains in 2022.

"Through our ongoing processes of collections reviews and documentation projects, in alignment with formal professional standards, National Museums NI was able to locate the missing iwi kῡpuna in November 2024."

"We immediately notified Kamakana Ferreira, Lead Compliance Specialist at OHA, as he was involved with the original claim."