Brazil is stepping up efforts to reclaim the skull of an African Muslim man who died during the 1835 Malê Revolt, a major uprising of enslaved people in Salvador, Bahia.
The skull has been kept at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum for nearly 190 years.
The human remains belong to one of the leaders of the January 1835 revolt, in the holy month of Ramadan.
About 600 African Muslims, mostly enslaved people from what is now Benin, Togo, and Nigeria, fought for their religious freedom and against forced labour.
Sheikh Ahmad Abdul, leader of the Bahia Islamic Cultural Centre, has been working to bring the skull back to Brazil. “He is our brother and deserves to be buried under Islamic rites,” Abdul told The Guardian.
Skull Taken by American Diplomat Who Backed Slavery
The skull was taken from a Salvador hospital by American diplomat Gideon T. Snow, who supported slavery and wanted to use the remains for eugenics research.
In a text from the time, Snow wrote that the skull belonged to “a genuine African, of the Nagô tribe, esteemed above all other blacks for their tall stature, breadth of shoulders, symmetry and strength of limb, united to an intelligence not usually found among the blacks of other tribes.”
Bruno Véras, a historian at the University of Toronto and member of the Arakunrin working group seeking the return, believes Snow “stole the man’s head from the hospital while it was still ‘fresh’.”
Harvard Stalled Return Talks for Two Years
The skull’s existence only came to light in 2022 when Harvard carried out a full review of human remains in its museum collections.
The report found the remains of over 7,000 North American indigenous people and 19 people of African origin who were enslaved in the Caribbean and Brazil.
João José Reis, a leading historian on the Malê Revolt, says Harvard’s Peabody Museum “delayed the repatriation talks for two years,” and that talks only moved forward when Brazil’s Foreign Ministry got involved in late 2024.
“It is morally hard to trust the word of a thief,” Reis added, referring to the lack of proof about the skull’s origin.
Brazil’s Return Push Gains Ground as Repatriation Trend Grows
The working group named “Arakunrin” – meaning “brother” or “companion” in Yoruba – has been pushing for the return. Members include Islamic leaders, historians, and Brazilian government officials.
Harvard has now agreed to return the skull, but the timing remains unclear. The university wants to send back both the Malê skull and another Brazilian skull from Rio de Janeiro at the same time.
Brazil’s demand joins a surging global reckoning over looted heritage and human remains. Last year, Germany handed back 22 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, part of a deal to return over 1,000 items stolen during the colonial era.
In May 2024, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office returned ten antiquities worth $1.4 million to Egypt.
Plans for DNA Testing and Facial Reconstruction
When the skull returns to Brazil, researchers plan to check its age through dental analysis and use CT scans to recreate the man’s face.
DNA tests will also be run to confirm if the skull truly belongs to a Yoruba person as claimed.
Harvard has not shared any images of the skull with Brazilian researchers, citing a policy against sharing images of human remains.
The Arakunrin group hopes the return will happen in 2025, marking the 190th anniversary of the Malê Revolt. For Brazil’s Muslim community, the return means a lot.
"During the period of slavery, funeral rituals were denied not only to him but to many other Africans who died in Brazil without the spiritual care they deserved," Hannah Romã Bellini Sarno, a researcher of Muslim identity, told The Guardian.
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