Pékapé, Couani, Emo-Marita, Mibipi, Makéré and Miacopo: these six Amerindians of the Kali’na people received, on September 17, a tribute from a delegation from French Guiana and Surinam. Their remains have been preserved since the end of the 19th century in the collections of the Musée de l’Homme. Arriving by force in France in 1892, they were part of a group of 33 Amerindians exhibited at the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris. The Moliko Alet+Po association is now demanding the return to their land of the six individuals who died of illness in France before being able to return to Guyana.
The ceremony took place in the reserves of the Musée de l’Homme, with the approval of the institution which accompanies the process initiated by Corinne Toka-Devilliers, president of the association, herself a descendant of an exhibited Native American in a “human zoo”. “These are clearly identified individuals. It would simply seem normal to be able to bury them near their family”explained Aurélie Clemente-Ruiz, director of the museum, to France24.
Restitutions from mainland France to overseas territories still do not benefit from a clear legal framework, despite the law of December 26, 2023 relating to the restitution of human remains in public collections. In its article 2, the latter grants the government one year to present to Parliament the bases of a “sustainable framework for the restitution of overseas human remains”. “As the one-year deadline soon expires, I note that no government work has been undertaken despite my various representations to the Ministers of Culture and Overseas Territories”notes Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly.
In the absence of this defined framework, the three senators who initiated the restitution law (Catherine Morin-Desailly, Pierre Ouzoulias and Max Brisson) plan to table an ad hoc law concerning the six remains including the Moliko Alet association +Po demands restitution.
