Guinea has pushed for France to return the skulls of four major figures in the resistance of the Imamate of Futa Djallon against the French colonisation of Guinea, those being Imam Bokar Biro, the last sovereign ruler of the Imamate, his son and brother, and that of Lieutenant Sitigui Modou. The discovery of Biro’s skull, now housed in the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, was only found out in 2021 due to a transcription error, has led to pushes from the Guinean government, now headed by a descendant of Biro, to repatriate the skulls, and would follow similar repatriations of Madagascan and Algerian skulls. This is significant, not only due to the significance of anticolonial resistance within France, but also as a sign of increased efforts from African states towards displaying regional independence from Paris. This effort is something that should be backed, in my view, even if there is a personal element to it; keeping the corpses of fallen opponents in museums, even if treated well, is still intensely disrespectful, and colonialism was not something to commemorate.
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Seems like France has already agreed to this, has already set up a committee that expects to deal with further requests, and has already complied with similar requests in the past.
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Guinea has pushed for France to return the skulls of four major figures in the resistance of the Imamate of Futa Djallon against the French colonisation of Guinea, those being Imam Bokar Biro, the last sovereign ruler of the Imamate, his son and brother, and that of Lieutenant Sitigui Modou. The discovery of Biro’s skull, now housed in the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, was only found out in 2021 due to a transcription error, has led to pushes from the Guinean government, now headed by a descendant of Biro, to repatriate the skulls, and would follow similar repatriations of Madagascan and Algerian skulls. This is significant, not only due to the significance of anticolonial resistance within France, but also as a sign of increased efforts from African states towards displaying regional independence from Paris. This effort is something that should be backed, in my view, even if there is a personal element to it; keeping the corpses of fallen opponents in museums, even if treated well, is still intensely disrespectful, and colonialism was not something to commemorate.
Seems like France has already agreed to this, has already set up a committee that expects to deal with further requests, and has already complied with similar requests in the past.