Madagascar has officially received three human skulls returned by France, including one thought to belong to King Toera of the Sakalava people. King Toera was executed by French forces in 1897 during the colonial invasion.

A state ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Mausoleum in Antananarivo. President Andry Rajoelina, government officials, and Sakalava leaders attended. People from the Sakalava community, wearing traditional attire, carried the skulls—

kept in boxes covered with Madagascar’s national flag—through the city before they were sent to the king’s ancestral land in Belo Tsiribihina. The remains are expected to be buried later this week.

This return comes after a 2023 French law made it easier to return human remains taken during colonial times. Before this law, each case needed a special legal approval.

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said a scientific committee verified the skulls’ origins but could only “assume” that one belonged to King Toera.

The skulls had been stored in Paris’s National Museum of Natural History for 128 years, alongside many other artifacts from Madagascar.

Madagascar became independent in 1960 after decades of colonial rule. This handover is the first major restitution under the new law and reflects France’s growing effort to address its colonial history.