Descendants of Zimbabwe resistance heroes urge UK to locate looted skulls | Zimbabwe
Descendants of freedom fighters executed and beheaded by colonial British forces in South Africa have appealed to the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Cambridge to help them find the looted skulls of their ancestors.
Descendants of the first Zimbabweans chimurenga Heroes who led an uprising against British colonialists in the 1890s have long believed the museum and university are in possession of many skulls.
Eight of the grandchildren have now formally asked institutions to cooperate in finding the remains of their six ancestors. They also offered to provide DNA samples to assist in the investigation.
museum and university He said in 2022 Their failure to identify any remains of colonial resistance fighters in their collections has sparked dismay and disbelief among their descendants and the Zimbabwean authorities.
In letters sent to institutions this month, the descendants said questions about the skulls’ origins could only be resolved if a working group of experts from Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom was established to examine disputed remains and archives in those countries.
“This isn’t just about the past,” the letters read. “This is about whether today’s institutions are willing to honestly confront colonial violence and repair its lasting damage. The pain will continue until the remains of our ancestors are held accountable and returned.”
One of the signatories of the letter is a descendant of Chief Chingaira Makoni, who opposed British settlers’ seizure of land for farming and mining in what is now Manicaland province in northeastern Zimbabwe. After engaging Cecil Rhodes’ forces British South Africa Company At the battles of Gwindingwi in 1896, Makoni was captured, executed by firing squad, and beheaded. The skull is believed to be among chimurenga The heroes were then taken to England.
His descendant and current Chief Makoni Cogen Simbayi Gwasira said: “As the descendants of those ancestors, we are very aggrieved by the dehumanization that took place at that time. We think that the British, and especially the museums in England, should be honest and return the things they took.”
“If these remnants are not a part of us, the concept of subjugation remains in our minds. Because if we become one with our ancestors, we feel that that page of colonialism has closed.”
The call comes after the Guardian’s freedom of information investigation revealed that UK universities, museums and councils hold at least 11,856 human remains from Africa. The University of Cambridge has the largest collection with at least 6,223 items, while the Natural History Museum has the second largest collection with at least 3,375 items.
Ten years ago, Zimbabwe’s then-president Robert Mugabe demanded the return of the skulls of resistance heroes from the Natural History Museum.
The museum’s board of trustees made a formal decision to repatriate all human remains from Zimbabwe in November 2022, but in a letter to culture secretary Lisa Nandy last week in support of the descendants, All-party parliamentary group for African reparations “There has been no visible progress in the three years since this decision,” he said.
Dr Rudo Sithole, former executive director International Council of African MuseumsHe said Zimbabwean experts did not believe the museum or the University of Cambridge had done enough research to determine whether the skulls they held from the country included the first skulls. chimurenga heroes.
“Because people have believed for a long time that all this happened. chimurenga “The remains of the heroes were in the UK and we are very concerned that not a single person is now acknowledged as being there,” he said.
Gwasira said his people were still suffering due to colonial theft of their ancestors’ remains. He said that in the Zimbabwean Shona tradition, ancestral spirits are known as: Vadzimu was the spiritual channel of prayers Mwarior God.
“Some of our very important ancestors who had the traditional responsibility of conveying our complaints to our Lord were killed, massacred, beheaded,” he said. “We suffer because we cannot reach the Lord until those ancestors return to us.”
Other leaders of the 20+ firsts chimurenga It included spirit mediums Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi. Hanged from tree in 1898.
Sithole is also a former director. Zimbabwe Natural History MuseumHe said Britain was lagging behind other European countries such as France and Germany in funding research into the origins of human remains from former African colonies.
A spokesman for the Natural History Museum in London said they were committed to repatriating the 11 individuals from Zimbabwe in their collection and were awaiting confirmation from the Zimbabwean government on the next steps to be taken.
“After extensive investigation, we have found no evidence to suggest that the remains belong to the named individuals or are associated with specific historical events,” they said. “The museum contains no other known or suspected Zimbabwean ancestral remains.”
A spokesman for the University of Cambridge said: “Immorality has written to the families and their grandchildren to acknowledge their deep sadness and the lingering uncertainty they express.”
They added that the vice-chancellor had assured the descendants that none of the early remains were found in the Duckworth Collection, which houses the university’s largest collection of human remains. chimurenga heroes.
DCMS declined to comment.
A. 2024 report He said Cambridge’s governing council had approved a request to repatriate the remains of the only Zimbabwean individual identified in African collections. He added that the university was waiting for a response from the Zimbabwe government.
