The descendants of an African chief who was hanged and decapitated by a Dutch general 171 years ago reluctantly accepted the return of his severed head, still angry even as the Dutch tried to right a historic wrong. Jeez, do you want the damn thing or not?The head of King Badu Bonsu II was discovered last year in a jar of formaldehyde gathering dust in the anatomical collection of the Leiden University Medical Center. The Dutch government agreed to Ghanaian demands that the relic be returned. I mean, clearly they didn't think too much of it, so what's one less head in a jar?
Members of the king's Ahanta tribe, dressed in dark robes and wearing red sashes, took part in the hand-over ceremony (they have ceremonies for that? how often does it happen?), honoring his spirit by toasting with Dutch gin and then sprinkling the drink over the floor at the Dutch Foreign Ministry. But descendants of the chief said they were not consoled. "I am hurt, angry. My grandfather has been killed," said Joseph Jones Amoah, the great, great grandson of the chief. You should be more upset you're not clear on your lineage - he's your great, great-oh, never mind.
The chief's head was stored elsewhere at the ministry (broom closet) and was not displayed during the ceremony. It is expected to be flown with the tribe members back to Ghana tomorrow. Tribal elders said after the hand-over that they were also angry because they had been sent by their current chief only to identify the head, not retrieve it. Taking it back without first reporting to the chief would be a breach of protocol, they said. C'mon, can the Dutch really know or care about all your little tribal nuances? It's 2009, let's at least pretend to be with the times.
The head was taken by Maj. Gen. Jan Verveer in 1838 in retaliation for Bonsu's killing of two Dutch emissaries, whose heads were displayed as trophies on Bonsu's throne. Sounds fair to me. In fact, where are those two heads? Huh? Not satisfied with recovering the head, the elders demanded the Dutch government provide aid to their tribe to appease the slain chief. One Ghanaian said he wanted the Dutch to build schools and hospitals for his people. don't press your luck, buddy.
Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen used the ceremony to apologize for Dutch involvement in the slave trade. Ghana, then known as Gold Coast, was a base for Dutch slave traders. "We are also here because of our mutual desire to lay to rest episodes in ... history that were unfortunate and shameful. Our common past also includes the infamous slave trade, which our traders engaged in and sustained and which inflicted so much harm on so many people in so many parts of the world."
Okay? You got your head and as good an apology as you're gonna get. Can you let it go now? "Without burial of the head, the deceased will be hunted in the afterlife. He's incomplete," said a Ghanaian diplomat in the Netherlands after the head had been discovereddiscovery. "It's also a stigma on his clan, on his kinsmen, and him being a (high-ranking) chief — this is even more serious." Alright, we get it - you have a very rudimentary belief system.
It was unclear what would become of it once it reaches Ghana.
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