African princesses appeal for help from President Higgins to return heirloom

(Left to right) Princess royals Ncedisa Maqoma and Princess Mamtshawe Zukiswa Kona of the Xhosa nation holding their ancestor Chief Maqoma's warrior stick in Collins Barracks on Tuesday, January 9. Photo: Maciek Bator

Two African princesses have appealed directly to President Michael D Higgins to help them ensure a 150-year-old family heirloom looted from their ancestor is returned to South Africa.

19th-century Xhosa leader Chief Maqoma’s sacred warrior stick, taken to Ireland after his death on Robben Island by a Captain French MacDermott in 1873, had been in storage in the National Museum of Ireland since 1880 without any knowledge of descendants. The chief’s stick has huge cultural, spiritual and historical significance for the Xhosa nation.