Zimbabwe Celebrates Return of Last Sacred Stone Bird Stolen by Colonialists Over a Century Ago

%3Cp%3EFor%20more%20than%20130%20years%2C%20one%20of%20Zimbabwe%27s%20most%20sacred%20national%20symbols%20sat%20in%20a%20foreign%20land%20%E2%80%94%20a%20piece%20of%20a%20civilization%27s%20heritage%20taken%20by%20force%20and%20never%20returned.%20Until%20now.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EOn%20April%2015%E2%80%9316%2C%202026%2C%20Zimbabwe%20welcomed%20home%20the%20final%20Zimbabwe%20Bird%20soapstone%20sculpture%20that%20had%20been%20held%20in%20South%20Africa%2C%20along%20with%20eight%20ancestral%20human%20remains%20looted%20during%20the%20colonial%20era.%20The%20handover%20ceremony%20was%20conducted%20by%20South%20Africa%27s%20Minister%20of%20Sport%2C%20Arts%20and%20Culture%2C%20Gayton%20McKenzie%2C%20marking%20one%20of%20the%20most%20significant%20acts%20of%20cultural%20repatriation%20in%20modern%20African%20history.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20Zimbabwe%20Bird%20%E2%80%94%20a%20soapstone%20sculpture%20carved%20by%20the%20Shona%20people%20in%20the%2011th%20to%2015th%20centuries%20at%20Great%20Zimbabwe%20%E2%80%94%20is%20the%20centerpiece%20of%20the%20nation%27s%20coat%20of%20arms%20and%20flag.%20It%20represents%20the%20bateleur%20eagle%2C%20known%20in%20Shona%20as%20%3Cem%3Echapungu%3C/em%3E%2C%20believed%20to%20be%20a%20messenger%20between%20the%20living%20and%20the%20ancestors.%20For%20centuries%2C%20these%20sculptures%20stood%20as%20spiritual%20guardians%20within%20the%20ancient%20stone%20city%20of%20Great%20Zimbabwe%2C%20which%20spans%20730%20hectares%20and%20is%20the%20largest%20ancient%20stone%20structure%20in%20sub-Saharan%20Africa.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20sculpture%20now%20being%20returned%20was%20taken%20in%201889%20by%20European%20hunter%20Willi%20Posselt%2C%20who%20climbed%20the%20sacred%20site%20despite%20warnings%20from%20local%20people%2C%20hacked%20the%20bird%20from%20its%20pedestal%2C%20and%20later%20sold%20it%20to%20Cecil%20Rhodes.%20It%20ended%20up%20in%20the%20collection%20of%20South%20Africa%27s%20Department%20of%20Sports%2C%20Arts%20and%20Culture%20%E2%80%94%20held%20for%20decades%20as%20a%20relic%20of%20colonial%20extraction.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EIn%201981%2C%20South%20Africa%20returned%20four%20of%20the%20original%20eight%20birds.%20The%20fifth%20remained%20%E2%80%94%20until%20now.%20With%20this%20repatriation%2C%20Zimbabwe%20now%20holds%20all%20its%20sacred%20birds%20save%20one%2C%20which%20remains%20at%20Groote%20Schuur%20in%20Cape%20Town%2C%20once%20Rhodes%27%20residence.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%22This%20is%20not%20just%20a%20stone%20coming%20home%2C%22%20said%20Edward%20Matenga%2C%20the%20archaeologist%20who%20documented%20Zimbabwe%27s%20bird%20sculptures.%20%22It%20is%20our%20ancestors%27%20voice%20returning%20to%20speak%20for%20our%20nation.%22%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20return%20ceremony%2C%20held%20at%20the%20Natural%20History%20Museum%20in%20Bulawayo%2C%20drew%20thousands%20of%20Zimbabweans%20who%20came%20to%20witness%20the%20homecoming.%20President%20Emmerson%20Mnangagwa%20called%20it%20%22a%20restoration%20of%20dignity%20and%20a%20demand%20for%20justice%20that%20has%20been%20denied%20for%20far%20too%20long.%22%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20repatriation%20also%20underscores%20a%20growing%20continental%20movement%20demanding%20European%20museums%20and%20governments%20return%20African%20cultural%20artifacts.%20Germany%20returned%20a%20portion%20of%20a%20bird%27s%20pedestal%20in%202003%3B%20Belgium%20held%20a%20%3Cem%3ELegacies%20of%20Stone%3C/em%3E%20exhibition%20in%201997%20that%20helped%20build%20pressure%20for%20that%20return.%20Now%2C%20advocates%20say%2C%20the%20focus%20must%20shift%20to%20the%20British%20Museum%2C%20the%20Louvre%2C%20and%20other%20institutions%20still%20holding%20African%20heritage.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAlongside%20the%20bird%2C%20eight%20ancestral%20human%20remains%20%E2%80%94%20also%20taken%20during%20colonial%20raids%20%E2%80%94%20were%20handed%20over%20in%20a%20ceremony%20that%20combined%20state%20protocol%20with%20traditional%20Shona%20spiritual%20practice.%20Families%20who%20had%20waited%20generations%20for%20the%20return%20of%20their%20forebears%20wept%20openly%20as%20elders%20performed%20the%20%3Cem%3Ekupomba%3C/em%3E%20requiem%20rites.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EThe%20message%20from%20Harare%20to%20the%20world%20was%20clear%3A%20Africa%27s%20heritage%20belongs%20to%20Africa.%20And%20the%20long-deferred%20work%20of%20bringing%20it%20home%20has%20finally%20begun%20in%20earnest.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3EImage%3A%20Zimbabwe%20Bird%20sculpture%2C%20Wikimedia%20Commons%20%28Public%20Domain%29%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E

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