France returned three colonial-era skulls to Madagascar, including one believed to be a Malagasy king beheaded by French troops during a 19th-century massacre.

Antananarivo

France has returned the skulls of a Malagasy king and two soldiers to Madagascar, more than a century after they were taken by French colonial troops following the Ambiki massacre of 1897. The remains, which had been kept in a Paris museum, were returned after years of requests from descendants and the implementation of a new French heritage law simplifying the restitution of artefacts.

The ceremony marked a significant step in addressing historical wounds from Madagascar's colonial past. French officials described the return as an act of healing and remembrance, and the skulls will be reburied in Western Madagascar, home of the Sakalava people.

France returns three skulls to Madagascar, a former colony

Carried in ceremonial cases draped in colourful cloth are the skulls of a king and two soldiers, brought to Paris as trophies by French colonial troops after the Ambiki massacre of 1897. They are now to return to Western Madagascar, the home of the Sakalava people, from whence they were taken. These are not simple collector's items. Their absence for more than a century, for 128 years, has been an open wound in the heart of the great Red Island. Today, France closes that wound. King Toerre's descendants first requested the return of his remains in 2003, from the Paris museum where they were exhibited. Madagascar was a French colony from 1887 to 1960, and on a visit to the island in April, President Macron promised the restitution of these skulls that it might create the conditions for forgiveness for these bloody and tragic events. Tuesday's ceremony marked the first application of a heritage law, voted in 2023, simplifying the process for the restitution of artefacts. This restitution policy is about healing and remembrance, joining together remembrance and culture, and taking a very lucid view of the past. This policy also calls on France to take a fresh look at our national collections, their history and their composition. The Sakalava skulls will leave Paris for Madagascar on Sunday, where they will be buried.

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