FBI returned sacred items, including human remains, to Vanuatu after an eight-year investigation. The items, two skulls molded with mud and three large effigies called rambaramp, were likely stolen from a sacred men’s house in Malakula. The FBI seized them in 2016 from a New York collector’s estate. The largest effigy is 11-1/2 feet long and weighs 700 pounds. The return posed challenges due to their fragility. Anthropology professor Holly Cusack-McVeigh helped identify them.
The Smol Nambas tribe stopped practicing rambaramp 50 years ago, after converting to Christianity. The tribe does not bury its dead, instead placing bodies on a platform for up to 50 days and then making effigies with the skulls. The effigies should not be displayed outside Vanuatu as they are considered part of a human being. The museum is glad to receive the ancestors back.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell attended a repatriation ceremony in Port Vila. He emphasized respect for cultural heritage and sanctity of the artifacts. The FBI’s Art Crimes Team handles cases involving art and cultural property theft. The team faced logistical challenges returning the fragile effigies. The Vanuatu Cultural Centre curator recognized the items instantly and was happy to see the ancestors returned. The effigies were part of a robust trade in human remains and sacred items in the 18th and 19th centuries in the Pacific. The return of the effigies represents the museum’s efforts to seek the return of relics and human remains from around the world.
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