Switzerland returns bones, tools of Adivasi to Lanka

ECONOMYNEXT– The Museum of Cultures and the Natural History Museum in Basel, Switzerland returned a collection of approximately 90 aboriginal artefacts, including human bones and tools, of Sri Lanka’s indigenous population this week.

Chief Uruwarige Wannilaththo, head of the Vedda tribe, inspected the aboriginal artefacts returned by Switzerland during an exposition to the media at the Lotus Tower in Colombo, on Wednesday.

The artefacts, which were taken to Basel around the end of the 19th century, include 42 human skeletons and skulls of Veddas, weapons like arrows and bows, and everyday items such as bags, plates, and pots.

The Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious, and Cultural Affairs, said they were returned in response to official requests from the Sri Lankan government and the Vedda tribe.

“The ownership of this country belongs more to the indigenous population rather than us, and thus it is a matter of happiness to be able to get these bones and cultural artefacts back to this country,” Minister Vidura Wickramanayake was quoted in a statement.

Several Sri Lankan artefacts of cultural and archaeological value were repatriated from the Netherlands last year.

However, there are legal barriers from reclaiming artefacts from other countries that colonised the island.Concerns have been raised over how returned artefacts are going to be protected from robberies, which have taken place at the National Museum in the past.