Relatives of southern African freedom fighters who were executed and beheaded during British colonial campaigns have asked the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Cambridge to help locate ancestors’ skulls believed to have been taken to the UK.
Eight descendants of first chimurenga leaders — the figures who led resistance to British colonisation in the 1890s — have formally requested that the two institutions work with them to identify the remains of six ancestors. The families have offered DNA samples to support any investigations.
Both institutions told the descendants in 2022 that none of the remains in their collections had been identified as belonging to these named resistance leaders. That conclusion has deepened frustration among the families and Zimbabwean officials, who say provenance questions can only be resolved by cooperative, transparent research.
In letters sent this month the families called for a joint taskforce of experts from Zimbabwe and the UK to examine disputed remains and archival material. They argued the issue goes beyond historical record: it is about whether modern institutions are willing to confront the legacies of colonial violence and repair ongoing harm. The letters stated that until ancestors’ remains are located and returned, the families’ suffering continues.
One signatory is a descendant of Chief Chingaira Makoni, who resisted land seizures by British settlers in the area now known as Manicaland. Makoni was captured after fighting the British South Africa Company at Gwindingwi in 1896, executed by firing squad and beheaded; descendants believe his skull may have been taken to England. The current Chief Makoni, Cogen Simbayi Gwasira, said his community remains wounded by the dehumanisation and urged British museums to be candid and return what was taken.
Gwasira explained that, in Shona tradition, ancestral spirits (vadzimu) are conduits to Mwari (God), and that the theft of heads has disrupted spiritual ties and rituals. “If those remains are not part of us, the notion of subjugation remains in our minds,” he said, adding that reuniting with ancestors would help close that chapter of colonialism.
A Guardian freedom-of-information investigation found UK universities, museums and councils hold at least 11,856 items of human remains from Africa. The University of Cambridge was reported to hold the largest share, with at least 6,223 items, followed by the Natural History Museum with at least 3,375. A decade ago, former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe demanded the return of the resistance leaders’ skulls.
The Natural History Museum’s trustees decided in November 2022 to repatriate all Zimbabwean human remains in the museum’s care. Nonetheless, the all-party parliamentary group for Afrikan reparations said in a letter to the culture secretary that it has seen “no discernible progress” in the three years since that decision.
Dr Rudo Sithole, a former executive director of the International Council of African Museums and ex-director of the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, said Zimbabwean experts do not believe the UK institutions have done sufficient provenance research to determine whether chimurenga heroes’ skulls are present in their collections. She noted that other European countries, including France and Germany, have funded research into the origins of human remains taken from their former colonies.
A Natural History Museum spokesperson said the museum is committed to repatriating 11 individuals from Zimbabwe in its collections and is awaiting confirmation from the Zimbabwean government on next steps. The spokesperson added that, after extensive research, the museum found no evidence to suggest its remains are those of named individuals or linked to particular historical episodes, and that there are no other known or suspected ancestral remains from Zimbabwe in its holdings.
A University of Cambridge spokesperson said the vice-chancellor had written to families to acknowledge their grief and uncertainty and to assure them that the Duckworth Collection, the university’s largest set of human remains, does not hold any of the first chimurenga leaders. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment.
A 2024 report said Cambridge’s governing council had approved a claim to repatriate the remains of the only Zimbabwean individual identified in its African collections, and that the university was awaiting a response from the Zimbabwean government.
Descendants, campaigners and some Zimbabwean officials continue to press for joint, transparent investigations and for the return of remains if provenance can be substantiated, saying such steps are necessary both for historical justice and for cultural and spiritual restoration.