French Minister Blocks Return of Maori Head

When a small museum in Normandy arranged to hand back a mummified Maori head to New Zealand, the local mayor called it a "symbolic act" of atonement for European colonialists' grotesque trade in human remains.

But a row has erupted after the French government intervened to block the return, saying the Maori head was part of France's national heritage. The minister of culture warned that the decision to return the head could set a precedent for France's vast collections of tribal artifacts and mummified remains from around the world - particularly in the Louvre and Paris's new Quai Branly Museum of Tribal Art, which has six Maori heads.

European settlers in New Zealand were fascinated by the Maori tradition of preserving the tattooed heads of warriors killed in combat. A macabre trade flourished, which the British outlawed in 1831. Over the past few decades New Zealand has requested museums return the heads, which it views as human remains, not artifacts. Since 1992, a dozen countries have done so, including Britain, Australia and Germany. The Rouen museum's initiative would be the first time a Maori warrior's remains were returned from France.

But the culture minister, Christine Albanel, said the museum must consult a panel to "guarantee the integrity of our national heritage". She warned of "heavy repercussions" for France's collections from Egypt and Peru. But she ordered a study of the "special ethical problems" of human remains in public collections.

Rouen's mayor, Pierre Albertini, said the Maori head was "not an object but human remains, which do not belong to a museum or city but to the heritage of humanity"