Traditional burial on 'Eua for Tongan ancestors repatriated by Australian Museum

The skulls of two Tongan ancestors, collected in the Pacific in the 19th Century, and repatriated to Tonga by the Australian Museum this week, were given a respectful traditional burial on ‘Eua Island in the presence of King Tupou VI and members of the Royal Family on January 10. The funeral conducted by the royal undertakers, the Nima Tapu (sacred hands), at Kolomaile, ‘Eua, was attended by descendants of the ‘Ata people, some of them coming from abroad. The funeral tributes touched upon painful memories of the loss of half of the ‘Ata population to Australian blackbirders in 1863. The surviving population of ‘Ata was relocated to ‘Eua by Tupou I.