Restitution to Whom? Considerations Regarding Restitution to Indigenous Peoples of French Possessions

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 2014, the skull of the famous Kanak rebel, Chief Ataï, was restituted to the Kanak peoples by the French government. Since then, France has been at the center of international restitution debates, especially those in Benin, however less consideration has been given to restitution to Indigenous communities technically within contemporary France. Restitution to Indigenous communities is particularly fraught for two reasons. First, cultural heritage in state museums is all collectively owned by the French peoples. Second, France struggles to accept and recognize categories of social difference, even from oppressed communities. This means French Indigenous communities must avoid restitution that enters their property/ancestors into the national collection, and do so with little or no national recognition of their identities. This paper considers how/why restitution to French Indigenous communities is difficult and explore ways that these communities have and will circumvent these problems as they pursue justice for their communities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023   •
• Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow