France Returns Skulls of Madagascar Massacre Victims After 128 Years

France Returns Human Skulls to Madagascar, 128 Years After Colonial Massacre

History shifted in Paris when three skulls taken as war trophies during France’s bloody conquest of Madagascar in 1897 were finally handed back to the island nation. Among them, believed to be the skull of King Toera of the Sakalava people, beheaded during the French assault on his royal village.

The story begins in August 1897, in the village of Ambiky in western Madagascar. As French colonial forces marched to suppress resistance, they stormed the Sakalava stronghold. King Toera stood against them. He was captured, executed, and beheaded on the battlefield. His skull, along with those of two warriors, was shipped to Paris and placed in the collections of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, catalogued as curiosities rather than honored as human lives.

The fight to bring King Toera’s remains home has been long and fraught with frustration. His descendants first petitioned France in 2003, but for decades their requests went unanswered. It was only in 2023, after France passed a new law allowing the restitution of human remains taken during colonization, that the process began to move forward. A joint committee of scientists, historians, and Malagasy representatives traced the remains, confirmed their origins, and prepared for their return. On August 26, 2025, in a solemn ceremony in Paris, the skulls were officially placed in Madagascar’s care.

For Madagascar, the moment was deeply spiritual. Culture Minister Volamiranty Donna Mara described the skulls not as relics but as the invisible and indelible link that unites the present to the past. She explained that their absence had been an open wound in the hearts of the Malagasy people, particularly among the Sakalava community of Menabe, who had never stopped mourning their fallen king. When the remains return to Madagascar, they will be honored with traditional rites, timed with the anniversary of King Toera’s death, restoring a sense of wholeness to a community that has carried this loss for over a century.

France, too, framed the restitution as both remembrance and reconciliation. Culture Minister Rachida Dati called it an historic event, acknowledging not only the return of the remains but also the painful legacy of colonization. 

Most significantly, French President Emmanuel Macron openly apologized during his April 2025 visit to Antananarivo, asking forgiveness for what he described as the “bloody and tragic” colonization of Madagascar. His apology marked the first time a French leader had so directly acknowledged the violence and injustice of colonial rule on the island, and it set the stage for the return of King Toera’s remains.

The relationship between France and Madagascar has long been shaped by this painful history, but recent years have seen deliberate steps toward reconciliation. The two countries have established joint committees made up of historians, scientists, diplomats, and community representatives to guide restitution processes. In the case of King Toera’s skull, traditional Sakalava rites were also integrated into the verification process, recognizing that cultural truth can hold equal weight to scientific evidence.

The return of these skulls reminds us that history cannot be undone, but it can be faced.And in facing it, nations can begin to heal.

For Madagascar, it is a restoration of honor to ancestors who were wrongfully desecrated. For France, it is an admission that objects and remains taken in the name of empire cannot remain in museums as trophies. For both nations, it represents a small but significant step toward a relationship built on honesty, respect, and shared responsibility for the past.