The French Senate unanimously passed a bill allowing the return of remains of six Kalina people who died in 'ethnological shows' in Paris in 1892. The remains had been stored in museums for 129 years.
This decision is seen as France confronting its dark colonial past. The remains will be repatriated to French Guiana.
In 1892, 33 people (including children and youth) from the Kalina and Arawak peoples were brought to Paris for display in the 'Jardin d'Acclimatation' park. Six died of diseases, and their remains were taken for anthropological research.
The new law also covers eight body parts kept at the National Museum of Natural History. Corinne Toka-Devilliers, granddaughter of 12-year-old Moliko, leads the struggle for repatriation.
Historians estimate that about 35,000 people from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania were exhibited in such 'human zoos' in Europe and the US until the 1950s. A 2023 rule only allowed returns based on requests from independent foreign states, excluding French overseas territories. The new law fills this legal gap.
