France and Madagascar launched on October 3, 2024 in Paris the first stage of the process of restitution of human bones dating from the colonization of the island and claimed by Antananarivo. A scientific committee common to the two countries was set up to study the Malagasy request aimed at recovering in particular the skull of King Toera, decapitated in 1897 by French troops in the early days of the colonization of the island. A major historical, cultural, symbolic and political issue for the Malagasy side. Explanations.
4 mins
With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Pauline Le Troquier
Will France soon return Madagascar the skulls of Malagasy warriors decapitated by colonial troops at the end of the 19th century? The launch of a bilateral scientific committee on October 3, 2024, on the sidelines of the Francophonie Summit in Paris, constitutes a turning point in the future of this issue as sensitive as it is symbolic: one of the three skulls currently stored at the museum of natural history in Paris is attributed to King Toera, of the former great Sakalava kingdom, in the west of the island, victim of the French colonial conquest.
The restitution request was first made 21 years ago by one of King Toera’s descendants. It has never been closer to success.
Also readMadagascar: one more step towards the return of three Malagasy skulls by France
The story of these skulls is that of a painful episode of the French colonial conquest of the Sakalava kingdom, in the west of the island. Following the Ambiky massacre in 1897, three Malagasy skulls were erected as war trophies by the French. They are recognized as those of King Toera and two of his fighters, decapitated.
“ This goes beyond a simple restitution »
Beyond the memorial issues, the cultural issues are immense, explains Fetra Rakotondrasoava, secretary general of the Malagasy Ministry of Culture, also a member of the joint committee responsible for studying the restitution: “ This goes beyond a simple restitution because ancestors have a very important place in Malagasy culture. And there, we are talking about a king, the last king of the Sakalava kingdom. Many people know the Sakalava cultural event, the “fitampoha”. In this ceremony, there is a meeting with the ancestors. But the ceremony will not be complete until the skull of King Toera returns to Malagasy soil. »
The commission composed of historians, museum curators and even technicians from the two countries must continue its work until December 20, 2024. Its experts will have to address the delicate question of the authenticity of the relic. The skull was authenticated as that of the sovereign by the Malagasy side on the basis of Sakalava possession rituals known as “Tromba”. Writings by the explorer Guillaume Grandidier also provide clues in this direction. But DNA tests carried out on the bones of King Toera failed to confirm this.
To date, scientific tools no longer make it possible to resolve the question, believes a Malagasy historian. The fact remains, he summarizes, that it is “ of Sakalava skulls having resisted French colonial repression “. Their restitution therefore crystallizes the issues of appeasement of memories initiated by Paris within the framework of the law on the restitution of human remains adopted in December 2023.
“ The image of the king Toera is important »
This long-standing issue gained new momentum in 2021 when the Malagasy authorities officially requested France to return these three skulls. An impulse whose contours are also ideological and political, believes the Malagasy historian Denis Alexandre Lahiniriko: “ You should know that, for several years, some of the Malagasy elites, who now run the State, believe that they are the heirs of the nationalists who fought French domination. And, suddenly, the image of the king Toera is important. Quite simply because under the era of Sakalava, who resisted the French, well that somewhere represents the idea of a certain Malagasy national unity and that this unity would be a very colonial unity where regional differences, ethnic differences, fade away in the face of French oppression. It also represents this desire of the Malagasy people to fight against external domination. »