A British museum will return a collection of Maori remains to New Zealand this month.
Manchester Museum said today it would hand over the remains stored in its collection, including a Maori skull and a fish hook made from human bone, to Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
The move is part of a multi-site repatriation of Maori ancestral remains from five institutions in the UK in November.
The remains include a skull known to be of Maori origin and donated to Manchester Museum in 1884 by a W Slater.
The fish hook, purchased in 1955, is made of wood with plaited cord and a barb constructed from human bone. It is known to be of New Zealand origin.
Manchester Museum director Nick Merriman said his institution had returned human remains to the New Zealand museum before.
"We have a policy of being proactive in discussing the possible repatriation of human remains with indigenous originating communities," Merriman said.
"We do this because usually these remains were taken without consent, and their presence in western museums often causes anguish to the descendants of the deceased."
In 2003, Manchester Museum handed over four Australian Aboriginal skulls to tribal elders.
