France to Return Indigenous Remains from Paris Museum

Why this is here: In 1892, eight Indigenous people from the Maroni River region—between French Guiana and Suriname—died while being exhibited in Paris and were subsequently added to the collections of the National Museum of Natural History.

The French Senate prepares to vote Monday, May 18, on a law authorizing the return of Kalina and Arawak remains to their descendants in French Guiana. The bill concerns six human remains and eight casts held at the National Museum of Natural History since 1892. These individuals were part of a group of roughly 33 Indigenous people exhibited at the Jardin d’acclimatation in Paris during a period of colonial “human zoos.”

Eight of those exhibited died during the winter of 1892 and were buried. Scientists later recovered the remains and added them to the museum’s collections. Senator Pierre Ouzoulias described a recent committee meeting on the matter as exceptionally emotional, noting the unanimous support for the restitution.

The law does not address the roughly 25 other Indigenous people who survived their exhibition in Paris. Further discussion will likely be needed to determine the fate of other collections of human remains acquired during the colonial era and currently held in French institutions.