'It's a violation': African princesses want return of ancestor's stick from Irish museum

Princess royals Mamtshawe Zukiswa Kona and Ncedisa Maqoma. Picture:: Journalist Collect 

The South African princesses are coming and they want their stick back.

Princess royals Ncedisa Maqoma and Princess Mamtshawe Zukiswa Kona of the Xhosa nation flew into Dublin on Monday to view, for the first time, their ancestor Chief Maqoma’s sacred warrior’s stick which was looted and brought to Ireland 150 years ago.

Maqoma was a commander of the Xhosa forces fighting against British rule in the South African wars of the 19th century. He was imprisoned and died on Robben Island in 1873.

Chief Maqoma. Picture: WikiCommons 

Culture Minister Catherine Martin is now being called on to facilitate the return of his stick to his descendants by the South African scholar, poet and playwright Nandi Jola, who first discovered the existence of the stick last year.

“The stick is not an object to us. It’s not an artefact to us. It’s a family heritage. It’s a family story. It’s also a narration of their history that was never told,” Jola told the Irish Examiner.

Jola was sitting in a café in South Africa last summer when she first met the princesses. 

Culture Minister Catherine Martin is being called on to facilitate the return of Maqoma's stick to his descendants

“I was there just having a coffee and you know when you’re amongst royalty by how they’re dressed. They don’t dress in ordinary clothes — they always have their royal regalia. I was inquisitively asking who their ancestors were and told them about my research,” she said.

“They said ‘oh our ancestor was killed on Robben Island’. For me, that was like ‘ding’. I asked who their ancestor was and they said 'Maqoma'.” 

Jola was curating an exhibition to mark the 150th anniversary of Maqoma’s death when she discovered his chief’s stick is currently stored by the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks.

Violation

“Maqoma mustn’t have been long dead when they took his stick, that is a violation. Culturally, the significance of the stick is that his nation can never rise again,” she said.

The museum allowed Jola to view the stick, which inspired her to write and self-finance a play about it. 

Mamtshawe — The Rise Of Maqoma will debut in Collins Barracks little-known theatre on Tuesday, starring three South African actors, Jola, and most importantly, Maqoma’s actual stick. It will be the first time it has ever been displayed in public in 150 years.

The two princesses will be allowed to view the stick in private beforehand. 

“That’s going to be so emotional for them because they are fifth generation since Maqoma’s death,” said Jola. 

Playwright Nandi Jola: 'I don’t want it to be downplayed as a photo opportunity for the museum to be seen as a place that champions diversity. It’s a place of colonial loot'

She believes the princesses would like the stick back. 

“Of course, it’s their stick. It belongs to them. That’s what I want for them. This is about repatriation and restitution. I don’t want it to be downplayed as a photo opportunity for the museum to be seen as a place that champions diversity. It’s a place of colonial loot,” she said.

Ms Martin set up an expert committee on the restitution of historically and culturally sensitive objects in Ireland last year. A department spokesperson said the repatriation of such objects at the National Museum of Ireland would be done on “a case-by-case approach”. 

They said Jola’s play offered “perspectives and opportunities to engage with and discuss the legacy of these collections”.

• ‘Mamtshawe — The Rise Of Maqoma’ is at Collins Barracks, Dublin 9 on Tuesday, from 2 to 4pm.