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Kōrero: Marlborough region

Wairau Bar: reburial of ancestors

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Wairau Bar: reburial of ancestors

In April 2009, in an emotional ceremony at Wairau Bar, New Zealand’s earliest human remains were reburied by Rangitāne ki Wairau elders. The remains were excavated in an archaeological dig around 1940 and had been held in Canterbury Museum in Christchurch. The iwi had sought their return for many years.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Marlborough Express

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Malcolm McKinnon, Marlborough region – Early Māori history, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/31751/wairau-bar-reburial-of-ancestors (accessed 5 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Malcolm McKinnon, i tāngia i te 9 May 2011, updated 1 November 2016.