Madagascar held on Tuesday a ceremony marking the return of three skulls preserved by France for 128 years, including a believer to be that of a Malagasy king beheaded by French troops in the 19th century.
France presented the skulls to Paris on August 27 in the first restitution of this type since it adopted a law in 2023, facilitating the return of human remains taken during its colonial conquests.
The skulls belong to King Toera, head of the Sakalava people, beheaded by French troops in 1897, and two of his warriors.
They arrived in Madagascar on Monday evening and were received at the airport by members of the Sakalava group dressed in traditional dresses.
Hold in three draped boxes of the Indian Ocean Nation flag, the skulls were taken through the capital Antananarivo to the city mausoleum on Tuesday, where they were received by President Andry Rajoelina and a rally of government dignitaries and Sakalava.
They will continue their trip by road to the region of the west coast of Belo Tsiribihina, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) of the capital, where they should be buried later this week.
The skulls were taken to France as trophies and kept to the National Museum of History of Paris alongside hundreds of other remains of Madagascar, which declared independence in 1960 after more than 60 years of French colonial domination.
The Minister of French Culture, Rachida Dati, declared during the Paris event that a joint scientific committee confirmed that they came from the Sakalava people, but said that he could only “assume” that we belonged to King Toera.
France has returned in recent years various artifacts taken during its imperial conquests, but each time requires special legislation until the Parliament adopts the law simplifying the repatriation of human remains.
Image of miniatures by Reuters – File image of a skull victim of the Namibian genocide
