Recent Repatriation Efforts in Europe and the U.S. East Coast

By Kamakana Ferreira, OHA Compliance Archaeologist

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) recently completed a repatriation mission to Europe and the U.S. East Coast in collaboration with Hui Iwi Kuamoʻo (HIK) – a Native Hawaiian organization (NHO) that provides care and protection for iwi kūpuna, moepū (funerary objects), and mea kapu (sacred objects) through repatriation.

Travel took place between April 22 and May 3, with the first leg of the trip including stops in Berlin, Germany, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. The second leg of the trip included stops in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.

An ʻawa ceremony was held on Oʻahu the night before the trip to prepare the travelers, including some coming in from neighbor islands, for the work ahead.

In Berlin, consultation negotiations took place with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (abbreviated as the “SPK”) on April 24 for the return of two important kiʻi (carved images). The foundation is a federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin.

Previously, and in collaboration with HIK, OHA repatriated a total of 32 iwi kūpuna and seven moepū from the SPK in 2022 and 2023. These iwi kūpuna and moepū have since been reburied. The two kiʻi in question are to be returned under a shared stewardship agreement, wherein OHA and SPK would share custody.

Shared stewardship is a progressive way for museums to work together with Indigenous communities on the appropriate care of cultural objects without having to fully relinquish their interest in the object(s). The proposed agreement has garnered support from the U.S. Department of Interior and the German Consul General in San Francisco (whose jurisdiction covers Hawaiʻi).

The consultation negotiation was positive, with tentative agreement on the stewardship terms. OHA will continue to work with SPK until the agreement is executed and the kiʻi are returned home.

In Belfast, a repatriation ceremony took place to return three iwi kūpuna from the Northern Ireland National Museums (NMNI), Ulster Museum, on April 28. The event was attended and supported by James Applegate, the U.S. Consul General in Belfast.

OHA had originally submitted a repatriation claim in October 2021 for five iwi kūpuna and five mea kapu after being notified of possible holdings at NMNI by Hawaiʻi County Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba.

Unfortunately, three of the iwi kūpuna could not be located by Ulster Museum staff at the time; thus, OHA and HIK were not able to retrieve them when they first visited Belfast in May 2022.

The three missing iwi kūpuna were eventually located by Ulster staff in November 2024, and arrangements were subsequently made for their return. The NMNI Board of Trustees swiftly approved the return in January 2025 to enable the repatriation event in April. The iwi kūpuna were reburied upon their return to Hawaiʻi.

Continuing on to the U.S. East Coast, the OHA and HIK team first stopped in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on April 30 for the retrieval of the akua hulu manu (feathered god image) of Chief Kekuaokalani from Harvard’s Peabody Museum.

A repatriation claim submitted by a lineal descendant (also a member of HIK) for the akua hulu manu was approved under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) earlier this year.

HIK graciously invited Hawaiian cultural practitioners, Hawaiian students attending Harvard University, OHA staff and OHA Board Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele to attend an ʻaha ʻawa ceremony to celebrate the return of the akua hulu manu. However, due to a scheduling conflict, Kauaʻi Island Trustee Dan Ahuna represented the OHA Board in Kahele’s place.

Immediately following the events in Cambridge, the team departed for Washington, D.C., to retrieve the ʻahu ʻula of Chief Kekuaokalani from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland, on May1.

This ʻahu ʻula was worn by Chief Kekuaokalani at the infamous Battle of Kuamoʻo in 1819, where he was killed by the forces of Liholiho.

While not an OHA claim, OHA supported HIK and the Smithsonian in their efforts to return the ʻahu ʻula to Hawaiʻi.

Sen. Brian Schatz recently applauded the effort and featured the ceremonial return on the U.S. Committee on Indian Affairs website. An ʻaha ʻawa ceremony was held at the Smithsonian to celebrate the return of the ʻahu ʻula.

The ʻahu ʻula was transported to the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on May 3 “on loan” until the formal repatriation process under the National Museum of the American Indian Act is completed. Final disposition for both mea kapu have yet to be decided by claimants.

OHA normally conducts several repatriation missions per year and plans them in a way to consolidate travel for multiple claims whenever possible. Work is often done in collaboration with descendants or other NHOs like HIK.

In mid-June, OHA will participate in repatriations with the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Chicago Field Museum in partnership with Nā Hoa Aloha o Ka Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau for the return of a mahiole (feathered helmet) and burial kapa that are believed to be from Kona, Hawaiʻi Island. Both of these cultural objects are being repatriated pursuant to NAGPRA.