University returns 150-year-old warrior skulls to Taiwan

The skulls of four tribal warriors killed nearly 150 years ago have been returned by a United Kingdom university to a Taiwan indigenous community in a move hailed as a “milestone of transitional justice”, writes Nicky Harley for The National.

The skulls were taken as war trophies by Japanese soldiers who invaded southern Taiwan in 1874 and fought the Paiwan people. They were then passed on to the University of Edinburgh in 1907.

It was the first international repatriation of ancestral remains for Taiwan’s indigenous community, according to the island’s Council of Indigenous Peoples. The repatriation was “rich with historical meaning and is an important milestone of transitional justice for indigenous peoples”, the council said in a statement.
Full report on The National site