Day: October 2, 2022

The remains of dozens of Indigenous Maori and Moriori people were officially received at New Zealand’s national museum in Wellington Sunday, completing a repatriation process from Austria, where the bones have resided for more than 130 years.

The repatriation “powhiri,” or welcoming ceremony, in bitterly cold, wet conditions at Te Papa concluded when the remains of about 64 Maori and Moriori — the Indigenous people of mainland New Zealand and the Chatham Islands — were taken to the museum’s Rongomaraeroa Marae, a sacred resting place.

The event completed a six-day journey for the remains, which left from the Natural History Museum in Vienna.

Records show that most of the bones, including skulls, were collected by Austrian taxidermist and grave robber Andreas Reischek, who spent 12 years in New Zealand until 1889.

The remains were housed for decades in Austria’s capital after being “stolen with no regard” from New Zealand’s “iwi” (tribes), officials from the two countries agreed.

Reischek’s diaries outlined how he looted graves without permission from several locations, including the Chatham Islands.

William “Pou” Temara, chairperson of Te Papa’s Repatriation Advisory Panel, said the repatriation — the largest from Austria to New Zealand — was significant.

“It is always a spiritual relief and privilege to welcome back our ancestors who have been victims of such wrongdoing. Culturally we know that they are weeping with joy now that they have returned to Aotearoa (New Zealand) where at last they will rest in peace.”

Te Papa’s acting head of repatriation TeArikirangi Mamaku-Ironside praised the assistance of colleagues in Austria in concluding 77 years of negotiations between the countries.

“The Natural History Museum, Vienna has made a profound commitment to right the wrongs of the past and approached this work with a spirit of openness and reconciliation,” said Temara, before adding that a government-funded repatriation program has numerous ongoing projects to pursue.

“While we’ve seen an increase in conversations about repatriating human remains, there is still a lot of work to do to bring all our ancestors home.”

The remains will reside at Te Papa while iwi are consulted to determine a final resting place.
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The nearly 400-year-old-year Passion play performed by the people of the German alpine village of Oberammergau comes to a close after a nearly five-month run, with viewers saying this year was especially meaningful as the play was delayed by two years by the COVID-19 pandemic. Villagers kept their vow to perform the play every 10 years, made in 1633 to avert the ravages of the plague.

Oberammergau native Christian Stückl has directed the Passion Play for more than 30 years, several times reworking the 100-year-old script, modernizing it, and removing antisemitic references.

“As a spectator you don’t really have to bring anything [in terms of religious understanding], you can just turn up,” Stückl said of the audience that comes from around the world to see the famous production.

“But as a director, if I didn’t have the belief and conviction that there is a certain power behind this story, behind this Jesus, I wouldn’t be able to tell this story,” Stückl said.

Ruth Aspinall traveled from Britain to see the Passion play and said she really liked this year’s production, finding it meaningful in several ways.

“Well, it’s my fifth time of coming and I don’t mean fifth in one year. So, that it explains it all, I would think. Very much so, it’s much simpler. I loved the Resurrection. It’s never been used before. It was just sort of hinted at before. But this time, all the disciples come on and lit candles. Mary was happy. Then everybody sang hallelujah. It ended much more joyful,” said Aspinall.

The play’s deputy director, Abdullah Kenan Karaca, also plays the priest, Nicodemas. Karaca is the son of Turkish immigrants and grew up in Oberammergau, a predominately Catholic village. But the village, too, is becoming reflective of Germany’s increased diversity, taking in refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ukraine. This is the first time the play has included a leading Muslim actor, Cengiz Gorur. Karaca, a professional theater director, says his first theater experience was performing in the Passion play as a child.

“The motivation why people are in the play is totally different. Some people, because of their faith, they want to fulfill the vow, other ones they just fascinated by the big production we have. Everyone is trying their best and do it really with their heart. This is really beautiful that the Passion play, the story of Jesus, can bring a lot of people together,” he said.

For Oberammergau native Frederik Mayet, one of two actors who plays Jesus, conveying Jesus’ message of love and hope to the audience is important.

“You always have to find the words that reach the people of today. We notice now in this Passion play year, the people are really touched. The power, joy, and enthusiasm we have on stage reaches the people in the auditorium automatically and that’s something special. When the choir is singing, when there are hundreds of persons on stage, sometimes it’s a magical moment,” he said.

Mayet portrayed Jesus for a second time and comes from a family with a long history of participating in the Passion play, starting in 1890. His children, 3 and 8, have also been on stage this year.
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