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UK university returns Taiwan tribal warrior skulls

By AFP
November 05, 2023
Pan Chuang-Chih, the mayor of Mudan, and Gavin McLachlan (right), from the University of Edinburgh mark the return of the skulls. — University of Edinburgh
Pan Chuang-Chih, the mayor of Mudan, and Gavin McLachlan (right), from the University of Edinburgh mark the return of the skulls. — University of Edinburgh

TAIPEI: The skulls of four tribal warriors killed nearly 150 years ago have been returned by a Scottish university to a Taiwan indigenous community in a move hailed as a “milestone of transitional justice”.

The skulls were thought to be taken as war trophies by Japanese soldiers who invaded southern Taiwan in 1874 and fought the Paiwan people. They were then passed on to the University of Edinburgh in 1907. It was the first international repatriation of ancestral remains for Taiwan’s indigenous community, according to the island’s Council of Indigenous Peoples.

Friday’s repatriation was “rich with historical meaning and is an important milestone of transitional justice for indigenous peoples”, the council said in a statement.