The head of a Malagasy king killed by French troops during a colonial-era war has been formally returned to Madagascar. The handover of King Toera's skull - and those of two other members of his court - took place at a ceremony at the culture ministry in Paris. The skulls had been brought to France at the end of the 19th Century and stored at the Museum of Natural History in the French capital. It is the first use of a new law meant to expedite the return of human remains from collections in France.
These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati is quoted as saying.
In August 1897, a French force sent to assert colonial control over the Menabé kingdom of the Sakalava people in western Madagascar massacred a local army. King Toera was killed and decapitated: his head sent to Paris where it was placed in the archives of the Museum of Natural History.
Nearly 130 years later, pressure from the king's descendants and the government of Madagascar has led to the return of his skull. Although there is no DNA proof that the skull is definitively King Toera's, it was confirmed by a traditional Sakalava spirit medium. Madagascar's Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara called the return a significant gesture, marking an important step in healing historical wounds caused by colonial practices.
These skulls entered the national collections in circumstances that clearly violated human dignity and in a context of colonial violence, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati is quoted as saying.
In August 1897, a French force sent to assert colonial control over the Menabé kingdom of the Sakalava people in western Madagascar massacred a local army. King Toera was killed and decapitated: his head sent to Paris where it was placed in the archives of the Museum of Natural History.
Nearly 130 years later, pressure from the king's descendants and the government of Madagascar has led to the return of his skull. Although there is no DNA proof that the skull is definitively King Toera's, it was confirmed by a traditional Sakalava spirit medium. Madagascar's Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara called the return a significant gesture, marking an important step in healing historical wounds caused by colonial practices.
