The remains of 27 Native Hawaiian ancestors, known as iwi kūpuna, are sitting in archival boxes at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. France’s Ministry of Culture has the power to send them home, and it’s time for the ministry to formally approve their return.

These ancestors were taken from Hawaiʻi in the 1870s. Research by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) traced them to Pierre Étienne Théodore Baillieu, then France’s consul to the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. He may have removed them from burial caves before carrying them to Europe.

OHA first asked about the remains in 2017. In 2023, France created a legal route for returning human remains taken under unjust circumstances. With backing from the U.S. Departments of the Interior and State, a formal request for their return followed in January 2025.

Last month, a delegation traveled about 7,500 miles to Paris. Just days before the trip, the museum said the remains would not be shown. The museum says it didn’t get enough notice; OHA says it gave six months. The group ended up performing a ceremony of chanting and genealogy while the remains stayed boxed up on the floor above. The museum has also said it can find only 26 of the 27 sets.

“They had no concept of how sacred this is,” Hailama Farden, OHA’s Senior Director of Hawaiian Cultural Affairs, told Civil Beat.

France still hasn’t formally agreed to the return. These ancestors have been away from Hawaiʻi for roughly 150 years. Sign the petition to urge France’s Ministry of Culture to approve the return of all 27 ancestors and bring them home to Hawaiʻi now.