After More Than a Century, Argentinian Museum Returns Indigenous Chief’s Remains to His People · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

La Plata City museum – Argentina from Flickr user Cristian unver license (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The complete remains of Chief Inacayal are finally back with his people in Argentina after 127 years. In December, the Museum of the City of La Plata returned the brain and scalp of the cacique, who died in the museum in 1888, as well as the remains of his wife and niece to representatives of the Tehuelche indigenous community.
In 1881, then President of Argentina Julio A. Roca began a campaign against the indigenous in Patagonia, a region spanning the southern tip of South America. After resisting, Modesto Inacayal was captured along with his family. He was rescued in October 1886 by the museum's director at that time, Perito Francisco Moreno, in gratitude for the cacique's kindness during his stay in Patagonia.
He and his family were then taken to the museum, where he died in 1888 of unknown causes.
Blog Misterios de la Ciudad de la Plata explains some of the theories about the cause of his death:
Murió el 24 de septiembre de 1888, por razones no del todo claras; sin embargo, se elaboraron las siguientes teorías acerca de su deceso:
He died on September 24, 1888, for reasons not entirely clear; however, the following theories about his death were developed:
Regarding the cacique's his remains, the blog continues:
El esqueleto del cacique fue descarnado y se lo preparó para exponerlo en el museo en donde había vivido sus últimos años. Así permaneció a la vista del público durante más de 50 años, hasta la década de 1940.
In 1994, a portion of his remains were returned. In 2006, the official process of restitution began under National Law 25.517 which prescribes that “the remains of indigenous people, whatever their ethnic characteristic, which are part of museums and / or public or private collections, should be made available to indigenous peoples and / or communities to which belongs that claim.”
Watch the moment Inacayal's remains were returned to his people in the following video from Movimiento Estudiantil Liberación: