Another success for New Zealand in securing the return of Maoris artefacts that contain human remains. Museums are willing to acknowledge now that it is right for them to return artefacts that involve human remains – with other cases though, they are still very reluctant to step forward.

From:
New Zealand Herald

British to hand back Maori remains
4:00AM Friday Nov 14, 2008

A British museum will return a collection of Maori remains to New Zealand this month.

Manchester Museum said yesterday it would hand over the remains in its collection, including a Maori skull and a fish hook made from human bone, to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
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A relatively minor issue is now provoking much debate amongst museums curators & archaeologists. At the suggestion of some staff, Manchester Museum has taken the decision to shroud the unwrapped contents of mummies that are on display. The decision, made out of respect for the dead has been welcomed by Zahi Hawass.

As times evolve, museums are shifting from being collections of curiosities, through being windows onto different cultures, to now finding that in many cases they have to actually interact with the cultures (or the descendants thereof) that originally owned the artefacts that they are displaying. Museums of the west have to now accept that they must consider not only the sensibilities of their own country or culture, but also those that created the items in their collections.

From:
ABC News (Australia)

‘Naked’ mummies cover-up welcomed
Posted Fri May 23, 2008 8:47am AEST

Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass has welcomed a decision by a British museum to cover-up its collection of ancient Egyptian mummies, saying it is a question of ethics.

Covering up the mummies is “a very important decision. I myself am with this position on an ethical basis, not a religious one,” Mr Hawass told AFP.
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