Britain submits human trophies’ identities report

Source: Britain submits human trophies’ identities report | The Herald  May 23, 2017

Senior Reporter
The Natural History Museum of London has submitted a report on their
findings in relation to the identities of human remains of slain heroes
and heroines of the First Chimurenga, National Museums and Monuments of
Zimbabwe (NMMZ) executive director Dr Godfrey Mahachi has said. Although
the findings of the report could not be made available to The Herald
yesterday, sources say if in the affirmative, this would mark the
beginning of the process to repatriate the remains of slain heroes and
heroines of the First Chimurenga.

The response was triggered by President Mugabe, who in August 2015 while
addressing people who gathered to celebrate the Heroes Day commemoration,
castigated the British for displaying skulls of some of Zimbabwe’s heroes
and heroines from the First Chimurenga in their museums as symbols of
colonial conquest.

Said President Mugabe: “Tanzwa kuti misoro yevanhu vedu, vakuru vedu,
yanga yakaunganidzwa mumuseum kuBritain. Varikuti tizoitora. Tichaitora
tichigunun’una kuti makaidimurirei? WaMbuya Nehanda hameno kuti tichauwana
here pakati pacho? (We are told that skulls of our people, our leaders,
are being displayed in a British museum and they are inviting us to
repatriate them. We will repatriate them, but with bitterness, questioning
the rationale behind decapitating them),” he said.

“The remains of our heroes, sacred to us, which were taken out of the
country during the colonial period, have now been identified in the
British History Museum. The remains, skulls, we strongly believe are the
skulls of beheaded heads of Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi, Chingaira
Makoni, Chinengundu Mashayamombe, Mapondera, Mashonganyika and Chitekedza
Chiwashira, among others.”

In an interview with The Herald yesterday, Dr Mahachi said since Britain’s
confirmation last year that it had heads of some heroes and heroines of
the First Chimurenga, the NMMZ was working with the British Museum to
establish identities of these remains.

He said, Britain had now completed the process and a report had since been
submitted to Zimbabwe through the National Museums and Monuments of
Zimbabwe.

“We have made some progress in our attempts to repatriate the human
remains that were taken to the United Kingdom,” said Dr Mahachi. “What
they have been doing all along is to look at their documentation for
purposes of trying to establish any linkages between the specific request
we made to them regarding the identities of the people we wanted
repatriated.”

Dr Mahachi said Zimbabwe had specifically requested confirmation of
remains of Mbuya Chahwe, the medium of the Nehanda spirit, Sekuru
Gumboreshumba the medium of Kaguvi, Chingaira Makoni, Chinengundu
Mashayamombe, Mapondera, Mashonganyika and Chitekedza Chiwashira among
others.

“They were conducting what they called archival research to establish if
they could confirm that these are the individuals that they are holding.
They have now submitted their report detailing their findings,” said Dr
Mahachi.

He said NMMZ had now presented the findings to the Ministry of Rural
Development, Promotion and Preservation of National Culture and Heritage
for Government to make a decision on the way forward.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Dr Thokozile Chitepo, could not
disclose whether Britain had succeeded in identifying the human skulls it
had in its museums saying her Ministry needed to brief the Principals
first.

These heads were brutally decapitated by the settler regime before being
ferried to Britain as trophies of conquest soon after the First
Chimurenga.

They are reported to be on display in the British History Museum.