A natural history museum in Rouen France has handed over it's Maori head back to New Zealand officials. The return is the first of sixteen heads being handed over by french institutions to be repatriated and reburied.
The head was collected more than 130 years ago when Maori warriors were in danger of being killed for their tattoo's. The fear of handing over human remains is that the precedent will be set for the return of human remains including Egyptian mummies.
UPDATE:
In a ceremony in late January 2011 the remaining heads in French collections were returned under black cloth to the Maori people of New Zealand.
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