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HONIARA - The skeletal remains of four Solomon Islanders have been returned to their country of origin from New Zealand after being collected for scientific research in the 1920s.
The bones were handed over to the National Museum in Honiara by the Solomons honorary consul to New Zealand Doreen Kuper-Prebble on Thursday.
They were flown in from Auckland where they had been stored in the city's museum.
The remains are of three men, believed to be from the Santa Cruz islands, and a woman, believed to be from the island of Malaita.
Solomons National Museum director Eddie Wale said they would be kept at the museum while researchers tried to determine exactly where they came from before they were properly laid to rest.
The bones were part of a collection of human remains from across the Pacific.
They were collected for scientific examination and comparison to try to determine the origins and migrations of Pacific Islanders.
Ms Kuper-Prebble said it was decided to return the bones to their countries of origin so they could be laid to rest in their home ground.
"It was a very heartfelt and emotional occasion. I felt so humble to receive the remains of my people on behalf of my country.
"They have been wandering about for far too long. Relatives of the people must be traced to send back the remains for proper burial."
Ms Kuper-Prebble paid tribute to Auckland's Ngati Whatua tribe who had been given responsibility to help decide the future of the remains and had ensured a fitting send-off for them.
"Maori and us have enormous respect for these sort of things," she said.
Other remains at the Auckland Museum set to be returned to their lands of origin came from Tonga, New Caledonia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Niue and Vanuatu.
- AAP
