Paris: 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, along with those of two other members of his court, took place at a ceremony at the culture ministry in Paris. These 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. King Toera was killed and decapitated, with his head being sent to Paris where it was placed in the museum's archives.
According to BBC, nearly 130 years later, pressure from the king's descendants as well as the government of the Indian Ocean nation has paved the way for the skulls' return. There is no DNA proof that the skull is King Toera's, as tests carried out several years ago were inconclusive. Ultimately, it was a traditional Sakalava spirit medium who confirmed the skull was that of the monarch.
Madagascar's Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara, who also gave a speech at the handover, said the return of the skulls was a "significant gesture," AFP reports. "Their absence has been, for more than a century... an open wound in the heart of our island," she stated.
This event is not the first time human remains from the colonial era have been returned by France. Most famously, the remains of a South African woman cruelly nicknamed the "Hottentot Venus," who had once been put on display in Europe, were taken home in 2012. However, this is the first return under a recent law that facilitates the process.
It is estimated that at the Museum of Natural History alone, there are more than 20,000 human remains brought to France from around the world for supposedly scientific reasons.