Madagascar marked a historic moment on Tuesday when France returned three skulls kept for 128 years, including one believed to belong to King Toera. The repatriation, held in Paris on August 27, was the first under France’s 2023 law allowing the return of stolen colonial remains.
The skulls are thought to be those of King Toera and two Sakalava warriors. King Toera was executed and decapitated by French troops in 1897.
Late Monday, Sakalava members in traditional robes received the skulls at Madagascar’s airport. President Andry Rajoelina, alongside Sakalava and government leaders, honored the return during a ceremony. On Tuesday, three crates draped in Madagascar’s flag passed through Antananarivo’s mausoleum.
The skulls will be transported to Belo Tsiribihina on Madagascar’s west coast, about 320 kilometers from the capital. Burial is expected later this week, marking the end of their journey.
Madagascar endured over 60 years of French colonial rule before gaining independence in 1960. The skulls had been shipped to France as colonial trophies and kept in Paris’s national history museum.
At the Paris handover, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati confirmed the remains’ Sakalava ancestry. However, she said experts could only “presume” that one skull was King Toera’s.
France has returned several artifacts from its colonial era in recent years. Until 2023, each repatriation required special legislation. The new law now makes returning stolen human remains easier.
