The Tangué – Belonging of the Bele-Bele Family of Douala Kingdom
The Tangué is intertwined with the political, spiritual and cultural lives of the water tribes of the Douala…
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Dr. Maximilian Chami and Alma Simba
Isanzu Community Perspectives on Ancestral Human Remains Restitution to Tanzania
Isanzuland (now Mkalama District), Singida Region, Tanzania.
The Isanzu community’s relationship to the land has, for centuries, been central to their way of life as agriculturists and farmers. Ancestors play a pivotal role in ensuring the prosperity and well-being of the community, through the land. Traditionally, community members also make pilgrimage to the graves of their ancestors, to share their problems and receive guidance on the way forward.
The burial rites and rituals, which include cleansing the deceased’s body, clothing them, praying for them and burying them immediately after their death, are performed for the deceased to move into the ancestral realm with peace and honour. The Isanzu believe that only the ancestors who have been laid to rest in this manner have the ability to oversee the community’s well-being, to offer spiritual and material protection, and to ensure social prosperity.
The Isanzu human ancestors are housed in the University of Göttingen’s Biological Anthropology collection, in Germany.
In 1899, German military forces began erecting stations and forts in Kilimatine, Iramba and Isanzu areas in Tanganyika (now Tanzania). The Isanzu community, led by Chief Kitentemi, organised riots to reject the occupation. For this insurrection, the chief and 7 of his bodyguards were arrested and hanged and/or beheaded, and their bodies were not returned to Isanzuland for burial.
A year later, Hamburg geographer, Erich Obst, was commissioned by the Geographische Gesellschaft (Geographical Society) in Hamburg, Germany to lead a research expedition in the area. Unbeknownst to most of the community members, the bones of their ancestors were removed from their graves, and sent to Geographische Gesellschaft in Hamburg for an anthropological assessment – as per the guidelines of racial sciences.
From the 1950s – 1970s the skeletons of the Isanzu’s ancestors were gradually moved from Hamburg Museum für Völkerkund to the University of Göttingen’s Biological Anthropology collection. There they joined approximately 1,200 other human ancestors who had been violently killed or removed from their graves during German colonial expeditions in various parts of Oceania and Africa.
Since the resistance and emptying of graves, there have been significant periods of drought and famine in the area, particularly over the last 20 years. The Isanzu people believe that these environmental calamities are as a result of their human ancestors being displeased and dishonoured. They believe that proper burial rites and rituals, including spiritual cleansing, need to be undertaken to restore order to their lives and land, and prosperity to their community.
In 2020, following pressure from diasporic community members, civil society and students, the University of Göttingen initiated the “Sensitive Provenance” Research Project. The objective of the four year long project was to examine the origins of the human ancestors and the circumstances under which they were removed, and to interrogate the scientific practice that had justified the removal and the continued use of human ancestors for teaching and research purposes. It is during the latter years of this project that the Isanzu community were informed of the pillaging of their graves over 100 years ago.
In 2022, the University of Gottingen, by way of the “Sensitive Provenance” Research Programme put out a call for a 3 month Fellowship Programme. The selected fellows would conduct provenance research on the Biological Anthropology Collection, which comprised +/- 1,200 human ancestors from Cameroon, Tanzania, Hawaii, Palau, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea; their regions of origin.
Through collegial academic networks between Tanzania and Germany, Dr. Maximilian Chami and Alma Simba were advised of the fellowship programme and encouraged to apply. They were selected to participate, and travelled to Germany in August to begin their research. During the fellowship they found that many of the human ancestors had no biographical information, however, using archival documentation they were able to discern that nearly 70 of the human ancestors were from Isanzu, Burunge, Irangi, Turu, Sandawe, and Tindiga. They also noted that most of them had been removed from graveyards.
At the end of the fellowship, each participant was invited to devise a way forward for the research. Alma and Max opted to connect with the Isanzu community, and seek their guidance on how the restitution of human ancestors should be approached. Upon returning to Tanzania, and meeting with the Isanzu elders, they were shocked to learn that the community was not even aware that their deceased community members had been removed from their graves. They only had knowledge of Chief Kitentemi and his seven bodyguards’ deceased bodies being retained by Germans in 1902. It is these restless ancestors that they attributed their social and environmental challenges to.
In May 2023, with support and guidance from mentors at the University of Dar-es-Salaam (UDSM) and the University of Göttingen, Alma and Max organised a multi-stakeholder and expert workshop as the final outcome of their research fellowship. The workshop was hosted by National Museums of Tanzania, and attended by Isanzu community representatives, Global South, African and local restitution knowledge experts and practitioners, academics, local museum curators, local government officials, and UDSM students. The various presentations sought to unpack the holistic implications and possibilities of restitution.
During the workshop, the Isanzu Chief, Mzee Ally Gimbi, put forth the community’s restitution demands. They sought the return of the bones of their human ancestors – including Chief Kitentemi and the seven bodyguards – to the community for burial, not to a museum. They also sought reparations in the form of social services in Mikalama; a lack that was attributed to the absence of their ancestors. They also requested that all research on their human ancestors be seized and that the bones be covered until they could be spiritually cleansed, in Germany and in Tanzania, and prepared for burial.
Although the Isanzu community communicated their willingness to receive their human ancestors, and colleagues from the University of Gottingen fully acknowledged the demand, no official plan was put forth for the restitution.
This is largely because the Tanzanian government does not currently have a policy framework for the restitution of human ancestors in place. Thus, Alma, Max and Prof. Holger Stoecker (Principal Investigator for the “Sensitive Provenance” Research Project) were commissioned to propose a plan for the restitution of the Isanzu human ancestors, which could serve as the foundation for a policy.
They noted that the biggest challenge being faced is the identification of human ancestors. This has implications for the burial rites and rituals, which are specified through ethnicity, gender, familial and clan ties. While Ancestry DNA testing may resolve this issue, it would go against the express wishes of the Isanzu to no longer have research conducted on their human ancestors, and would be outside the scope of what Germany currently provisions for in restitution.
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As it stands, there has been no further move towards restitution. The resounding recommendation from Alma and Max’s research around community perspectives, and the commissioned report, is that the Isanzu community, and others, should continuously be involved in framing how restitution of their human ancestors happens.
Dr. Maximilian Chami is a Tanzanian cultural heritage expert, who currently serves as a lecturer in Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. Prior to this, he worked at UNESCO National Commission Tanzania, as a Culture and World Heritage Officer, and at the National Museums of Tanzania as a Senior Research Officer in the Sites and Monuments Unit, where he also supported the smooth functioning of the Restitution Committee. In 2022, he led a British Council project, which produced a proposed management plan for the Tendaguru Dinosaur Site in Lindi Region, Tanzania.
Alma Simba is a dynamic emerging researcher and historian, who recently completed her Master of Arts in History (specialising in Ethnohistory and Museum Collections) at the University of Dar-es-Salaam. She also currently serves in the Department of History, Archaeology and Heritage Studies, as an assistant lecturer.
In 2022, Alma and Max were selected to jointly participate in University of Göttingen’s Sensitive Provenance Research Fellowship Programme, in Germany. Through this experience, they were able to work closely with the Isanzu community, key advisors and stakeholders, to map and report on a community-centred approach to the restitution of Isanzu human ancestors.
Through the “Sensitive Provenance” Research Project, Alma and Max were able to conduct provenance research using German archival collections and sound. Their existing research was combined with oral interviews and focus groups discussions with Isanzu community elders and Mkalama District government officials, as well as personal reflections on their research journey, to generate data for this case study. Their main challenge in conducting the research was language.
As Kiswahili speakers, and English second language speakers, German archival records were wholly inaccessible. They were, however, supported in translation by Prof. Holger Stoecker. While in Mkalama district they were supported by a translator to conduct some of their interviews and focus groups in Kinyihanzu. They were, however, not able to auto-transcribe the interviews, as Otter.ai does not currently support the transcription of African languages. During their interviews and focus groups, they also found that most of the community members did not articulate their knowledge or understanding of the restitution of human ancestors in terms of the official frameworks, processes or milestones that were involved. They were more prone to expressing their perspectives on how the restitution of their human ancestors should happen, based on their belief and knowledge systems.
This research data was gathered as part of the second case study research cohort, from November 2023 – February 2024. The information in this case study profile reflects the status of this restitution case as at February 2024.