Question 9438 — overseas

Summary

Mr. Jean-Victor Castor draws the attention of the Minister of Culture to the restitution of human remains to so-called overseas territories. For more than three years, Mr. MP has alerted the overseas and culture ministries on the question of the restitution of human remains from so-called “overseas” territories and maintained in the public collections of French museums; notably the six Kali'na and Arawak ancestors preserved in Museum of Man in Paris. On July 7, 2025, during the debate on the restitution of the talking drum Djidji Ayôkwé to Côte d'Ivoire, with his colleague Frédéric Maillot, the MP recalled that human remains from colonized peoples of the so-called overseas territories still remain stored in the museums of the Republic, awaiting a clear restitution process. For Guyana, for more than three years, the MP has alerted the Ministry of Culture and that of overseas territories on the urgency of allowing the restitution of the remains of the six Kali'na ancestors who have been waiting for 132 years to find their land. This approach is part of accompaniment and support for the Moliko Alet+Po association which for several years has been carrying out extensive and rigorous work with the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, in order to identify and enable the return of the remains of indigenous peoples. Kali'na and Arawak exhibited in 1882 and 1892 at the acclimatization zoological garden during the colonial exhibitions. Their identification was carried out in a certain and incontestable manner and a memorial has already been created by the local authority of Guyana since 2024 in the commune of Iracoubo. Everything is therefore ready so that these ancestors can finally rest with dignity on their land and the wait for a hypothetical law becomes intolerable. This issue, beyond its memorial and historical importance, is today a question of fundamental respect and justice. The rapid outcome of this legitimate request is only possible by a specific law. A project to this effect has been registered at the Presidency of the Senate since October 3, 2024 without being included on the agenda. The Government's support on this point is therefore very necessary, especially since it is a commitment that was made and reiterated by the Ministry of Culture during meetings over the last two years. At the same time, the Government cannot (and should not) ignore the inclusion on the agenda of a draft framework law for the restitution of human remains originating from the countries. The recent discovery of human remains of Reunionese slaves in the Museum's reserves National Museum of Natural History in Paris only confirms this state of affairs. Especially since new “human remains” from Guyana have been identified or are being identified in several museums in France. The media coverage of these “discoveries” will necessarily lead to an increase in research and requests for all of the so-called overseas territories. Therefore, the modalities of a complete inventory of museums must be defined so that all ancestors still stored in boxes in France can be found, identified and repatriated to their territory of origin according to a clearly defined legal process. To date, without affirmed support from the Government, the two legislative procedures (proposal for a specific law for the Kali'na exhibited in the Senate and proposal for a framework law to allow the restitution of the human remains of so-called overseas territories to the National Assembly) cannot be included on the agenda due to the rules of operation of the assemblies. Also, he asks him what commitment the Government intends to make for a rapid discussion of a specific bill for Guyanese exhibits and a draft framework law, to on the one hand urgently allow the return of Kali'na ancestors to Guyana and on the other hand respond to the legitimate expectations of descendants and so-called overseas territories.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

No documents linked.

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.