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  "path": "/links/20260519-france-return-bodies-of-indigenous-people-exhibited-colonial-human-zoos",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-20T04:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://jonathanstephens.us",
  "tags": [
    "Indigenous Americans",
    "Colonization",
    "Reparations",
    "History",
    "Repatriation",
    "France",
    "French New Guinea",
    "Suriname",
    "Paris",
    "Law",
    "Museums",
    "Responsibility"
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  "textContent": "> Among the 33 Amerindians who were exhibited at the Jardin d’acclimatation in 1892 was 12-year-old Moliko, whose great-great-grand-daughter Corinne Toka-Devilliers has spearheaded efforts to repatriate the remains of those who never made it back. She spoke of her relief and joy at hearing the names of her ancestors ring out in the Senate chamber.\n>\n> “Naming them restores their humanity,” she said. “It restores an identity to people who were kept in a museum for more than 130 years, nameless and unknown to all but their loved ones back home.”\n>\n> Toka-Devilliers heads the association Moliko Alet+Po, which translates as \"Moliko’s descendants\" in the Kalina language. Its aim is to seek recognition and reparation for a colonial practice that stretched over multiple decades but has been largely silenced since.\n\n> As she welcomed the Senate vote on Monday, Culture Minister Catherine Pégard expressed support for new legislation to “facilitate the repatriation of human remains to overseas territories” and respond to future requests – a demand backed by Moliko Alet+Po.\n>\n> “Our people are ready to return home – and our land is ready to welcome them,” said Toka-Devilliers. “But we need a law that works for everyone, because there are many others like us who are still waiting to lay their ancestors to rest.”",
  "title": "France to return bodies of Indigenous people exhibited in colonial ‘human zoos’"
}