Isaria Anael Meli has been searching for his grandfather’s remains for over six decades. He believes that his grandfather’s skull is currently housed in a museum in Berlin. His grandfather, Mangi Meli, along with 18 other chiefs and advisers, were hanged by a German colonial force 123 years ago. Finally, after all this time, a German minister has expressed the country’s willingness to apologize for the executions in what is now northern Tanzania. Other descendants have also been searching for the remains. Recently, through the use of DNA research, two of the skulls belonging to those who were killed have been identified among a collection of thousands in a museum.
Spotting an acacia tree on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro is a rare sight. Its twisting branches reach above the steep road and stand out among the denser lush vegetation. At one point in time, this tree shaded a market for the villagers of Tsudunyi, which is now called Old Moshi. The villagers lived off the fertile land and enjoyed the cooler temperatures at higher altitudes. However, this focal point for the community became the site of a great tragedy. Despite the peaceful natural surroundings today, the impact of the events that occurred there has reverberated throughout the decades.
According to the descendants’ accounts, on March 2nd, 1900, one-by-one, the 19 men were hanged. They were hastily tried the day before and accused of plotting an attack on the German colonial forces. Germany solidified its claim to this part of the continent during the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 when the European powers divided Africa among themselves without the consent of the people living there. Mangi Meli, the most prominent chief among those executed, had successfully defeated German forces in 1892. However, the Europeans wanted to assert their authority over German East Africa and make an example out of Mangi Meli and other local leaders who may have been planning an uprising.
While most of the bodies are believed to have been buried in a mass grave near the acacia tree, their heads were removed, packed up, and sent 6,600 km to the German capital. In some cases, complete skeletons were shipped. Isaria Anael Meli, when discussing what happened to his grandfather, expresses sadness and bewilderment rather than anger. His grandmother, who was forced to watch the execution, told him about the killing of Mangi Meli. Isaria Anael Meli recalls that his grandfather would visit him in his dreams, promising to return one day. Despite officials’ attempts to dissuade him, Isaria Anael Meli has been writing to German and Tanzanian authorities since the 1960s, urging them to search for his grandfather’s remains. He believes that the skull should be returned not only to his family but to the whole country.
For the Chagga ethnic group, to which Mangi Meli belonged, and other people in the region, the separation of the head from the body and its removal from the land is deeply unsettling. In Chagga culture, the dead are meant to be buried in the homestead so they can continue to watch over the living. Failing to do so can have consequences for future generations. Gabriel Mzei Orio, the founder of the Old Moshi Cultural Tourism Enterprise, explains that leaving the skulls in Germany would result in the spirits tormenting the families. He stands under the acacia tree in Tsudunyi, next to a memorial for those who were killed there. Simulango Molelia, the grandson of another victim, Mangi Molelia, believes that his family is being haunted by the chief’s spirit.
Those who took the body parts over 120 years ago did not consider these cultural beliefs. Museums and institutions in 19th and early 20th century Europe and North America amassed large collections of skulls and human remains. This was driven, in part, by the discredited science of phrenology, which claimed that an individual’s characteristics were reflected in the shape of their skull. Researchers sought to establish a racial hierarchy, and as a result, skulls were collected from around the world. German anthropologist Felix von Luschan, head of the Africa and Oceania department at Berlin’s Royal Museum of Ethnology, actively sought remains from Germany’s empire and other European colonies. He even wrote an instruction manual for collectors, encouraging the acquisition of skulls. The remains of the executed men were likely transported to Von Luschan’s archive, including the S-collection (referring to skulls), which grew to 6,300 samples by the time of his death in 1924. Some of Von Luschan’s private collection was sold to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, including the entire skeleton of one of the men hanged in 1900. The rest passed through various institutions until 2010 when they came under the care of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin. However, much of the accompanying documentation has been lost over the years.
