On April 4th, 2023, the Anthropological Collection of the University of Vienna repatriated two Ancestral Remains (iwi kūpuna) as well as hair samples (lauoho) of Native Hawaiian origin from the private collection of the Austrian born anthropologist Felix von Luschan (1854–1924). In a private ceremony hosted by the Dean of Life Sciences Karl-Heinz Wagner, the Ancestral Remains were released into the rightful custody of the Delegation Hui  Iwi Kuamo‘o, represented by Mr. Edward Halealoha Ayau and Ms. Uluwehi Cashman.

The repatriated Ancestral Remains were first taken from Hawai‘i in 1914, when Felix von Luschan exhumed traditional Hawaiian burial sites and took hair samples from Indigenous Hawaiian school children during anthropological surveys carried out under the patronage of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu. At that time, his appropriations from the islands of Lāna‘i and Molokai were officially transferred to the Bishop Museum and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In the 1990s, both institutions returned what they had received from Felix von Luschan to Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o’s predecessor organization.

Recently, however, the curator of the Anthropological Collection of the University of Vienna discovered that some of these Ancestral Remains from 1914 had in fact been unofficially diverted into Felix von Luschan’s private collection, which was bequeathed to Vienna in 1925. In line with global efforts to acknowledge and rectify the injustices and violence committed against Indigenous peoples during the colonial era with its inhumane and exploitative research agenda, the University of Vienna has taken immediate steps to arrange for a return of these Ancestral Remains to Hawai‘i.

In the presence and with the kind support of representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Austria and of the Vienna University Collections, the repatriation ceremony on April 4th included the signing of a Letter of Unconditional and Permanent Release by the Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences Karl-Heinz Wagner and Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o Executive Director Edward Halealoha Ayau. This effort was carried out in respect of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and in acknowledgement of the trauma suffered by Hawaiian communities of origin.

According to Edward Halealoha Ayau, the ceremonial handover has made the Ancestral Remains, no longer objects of science, human again, which represents a key step in the healing process. They will be escorted back to their kulāiwi (homeland) for reburial, contributing to the restoration of Hawai‘i‘s ancestral foundation.