Ceremony marks return home of kiwi feather cloak
A Māori kiwi feather cloak, or kahu kiwi, has been returned to New Zealand from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford after being held there since 1913. The repatriation ceremony marks the restoration of a culturally significant treasure to its rightful owners.
Why it matters
This event highlights the ongoing global movement regarding the repatriation of indigenous cultural artifacts from Western institutions to their countries of origin.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, A kahu kiwi, or feather cloak, worn by a Māori chief in 1903
A ceremony has been held to mark the return of a Māori kiwi feather cloak to New Zealand by a British museum.
The kahu kiwi was one of the farewell gifts presented by Māori leaders in 1900 to Dr George Cleghorn, a medical doctor who had been working in New Zealand.
It was loaned to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford by Cleghorn's widow in 1913.
The Homebound Project, a charity which funded the return, said the cloak was "crying to come home".
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Dr Lorraine Eade, chair of Ngāti Rārua o Te Wairau Society, which now owns the item, said its significance was "beyond measure".
She said its return was an opportunity to acknowledge Cleghorn's work for Māori people.
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