ABSTRACT
The use of Indigenous human remains in the development of European science, particularly during the 19th century, has caused great pain and loss to many Indigenous communities affected by the theft and collection of their ancestors. Research in fields such as dentistry, craniology and phrenology, osteology, anatomy, and anthropology saw the desire to obtain collections of human remains, particularly skulls, from around the world, in order to investigate, compare, deconstruct, categorise, and in some cases reuse aspects of these remains not only for the benefit of European science but for the benefit of Europeans in general. This chapter explores the development of European science and the effects this has had and is still having on Indigenous communities through an Aotearoa New Zealand lens. It focuses on the major players in the collection of Māori and Moriori human remains and the lengths gone to in order to obtain remains not only for study in New Zealand but for research and collection in countries across Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
