Ceremony marks return home of kiwi feather cloak
The kahu kiwi, given to a British doctor in 1900, was "crying to come home", Māori campaigners say.
Ceremony marks return home of kiwi feather cloak
A ceremony has been held to celebrate the return of a Māori kiwi feather cloak to New Zealand from a British museum.
The kahu kiwi was among the farewell gifts given by Māori leaders in 1900 to Dr George Cleghorn, a doctor who had been working in New Zealand.
In 1913, Cleghorn's widow loaned it to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
The Homebound Project, the charity that paid for the return, said the cloak was "crying to come home".
Dr Lorraine Eade, chair of Ngāti Rārua o Te Wairau Society, which now owns the item, said its importance was "beyond measure".
She said its return offered a chance to recognise Cleghorn's work for Māori people.
According to the Pitt Rivers Museum, the doctor campaigned for Māori to have the right to use a local hospital rather than having to travel farther away for medical care.
It added that he also spent time visiting families in their homes to teach them about the importance of public health measures.
Shane Graham, chief executive of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua, a Māori authority, said the return was a momentous occasion.
"It restores mana [prestige] and honours the deep emotional and cultural significance of our living connection to this taonga [treasure]," he said.
Prof Laura Van Broekhoven, director of the Pitt Rivers Museum, said: "We are very pleased that the day has come for the Kahu Kiwi to return home."
A ceremony was held in Oxford earlier to mark the cloak's departure.