Schalk Van Zuydam / AP
A tribal member, center, reacts to the arrival of skulls from Germany at the airport in Windhoek, Namibia, on Oct 4.
Namibians turned out at Windhoek airport Tuesday to welcome the return of the skulls of twenty ancestors who were taken by German forces for racist experiments more than a century ago.
Prime Minister Nahas Angula said that he "accepts these mortal remains as a symbolic closure of a tragic chapter," the AP reported.
See Friday's PhotoBlog post about the handover of the skulls to Namibian tribal leaders in Berlin.
John Macdougall / AFP - Getty Images
One of 20 skulls being handed over to a strong Namibian delegation is on display at the Charite University Hospital in Berlin on Sept. 30.
Sean Gallup / Getty Images
A delegation member from Namibia points at two of 20 skulls to be repatriated to Namibia during a handover ceremony at Charite University hospital on Sept. 30 in Berlin, Germany.
AP Reports:
Namibian tribal leaders took possession Friday of the skulls of 20 of their countrymen, taken by German colonial forces more than a century ago for racial experiments.
The handing over of the skulls was a rare reminder of Germany's short-lived past as a colonial power in Africa, which included the bloody suppression of a Herero and Nama uprising between 1904 and 1908 that left tens of thousands dead.
The heads of four females and 16 males, including a young boy of about three, were removed from their bodies and preserved in formaldehyde intact with faces, skin and hair.
Full story: German museum returning Namibian skulls
Tobias Schwarz / Reuters
A member of a Namibian delegation photographs a human skull from the Herero and ethnic Nama people. The skull is one of 20 being returned to Namibia by Berlin's Charite University hospital on Sept. 30.
John Macdougall / AFP - Getty Images
Members of a Namibian delegation perform a Herero ritual in front of the Charite University Hospital in Berlin on Sept. 30.
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