Basel returns Indigenous Kawésqar remains to Chile

Three Kawésqar ancestors will leave Basel for Chile after a restitution process rooted in provenance research. Basel City is returning two skeletons and a skull to the Indigenous community in Patagonia, marking a significant decision for Swiss museums and public collections. Government President Conradin Cramer received a Kawésqar delegation at Basel City Hall on Thursday to mark the handover process.

The remains are currently held by the Natural History Museum Basel. The return follows a joint application by the museum, the Museum Commission and the Rectorate of the University of Basel. Basel’s Cantonal Museums Act requires those bodies to submit a joint request before the government can approve such a restitution.

The decision places the case within Switzerland’s wider examination of human remains and objects acquired during the colonial period. For Basel, the process connects a local museum collection to a history that reaches across the Atlantic, from Swiss collectors to the channels and fjords of western Patagonia.

The remains will be sent to Punta Arenas in consultation with Kawésqar communities. Descendants will determine where and how the ancestors receive their final resting place.

Provenance research traced the remains to two Basel collectors who acquired them in Patagonia in the early 20th century. Arnold Masarey, who lived from 1881 to 1953, and Ludwig Paravicini, who lived from 1868 to 1953, obtained the human remains during collecting activities in the region. They later donated them to what was then the Museum of Ethnology.

The collection eventually moved into the holdings of the Natural History Museum Basel. Researchers there examined the history of the remains in collaboration with Indigenous partners. Their work established the circumstances of the acquisition and found that the communities concerned had not consented to the purchase.

That finding shaped the restitution decision. The case shows how provenance research can move beyond identifying an object’s route into a collection. It can also examine whether the original transfer respected the rights and wishes of the people whose cultural and human heritage was taken.

Basel’s institutions did not publish a detailed account of the acquisition transaction in the material available for this report. They did, however, acknowledge the colonial context and the absence of consent. Those conclusions provide the formal basis for returning the ancestors to their community.

The Kawésqar have lived in western Patagonia for more than 6,000 years, long before their ancestors entered European collections. Their traditional territory, known as Kawésqar Wæs, consists of channels and fjords in what is now Chile. The community developed a maritime way of life across this intricate landscape.

Colonisation severely reduced the Kawésqar population and disrupted their society. The removal of ancestors added another layer to that history. In Kawésqar understanding, the remains are not anonymous specimens or detached scientific material. They are individuals who retain an ongoing spiritual connection with their descendants.

That perspective has direct consequences for museums. Curators must consider community authority, religious meaning and the treatment of human remains, alongside catalogues and legal ownership records. Basel’s restitution process involved the Natural History Museum, the Museum Commission, the University of Basel and Kawésqar partners, giving the community a role in establishing what happened and what should follow.

The families involved described the return as an important step towards restoring dignity. The Basel City presidential department also linked the restitution to recognition of the Kawésqar’s continued existence and to building lasting trust between descendants and Swiss institutions.

The ancestors will travel to Punta Arenas, where Kawésqar descendants will decide their final resting place. Basel City is organising the transfer in consultation with Indigenous communities, leaving the next decisions with the people whose relatives were taken from Patagonia.

The arrangement sets a clear boundary for the Swiss institutions involved. Their responsibility is to document the remains, coordinate a safe transfer and share the relevant provenance findings. The community will determine the appropriate burial or ceremonial destination after the remains arrive in Chile.

For Switzerland, the case adds to a growing record of museums reviewing human remains and colonial-era acquisitions. Swiss collections contain material gathered through unequal relationships, and restitution requires more than a change in ownership records. It involves research, consultation and practical cooperation across borders.

Basel’s decision also creates a precedent for institutional collaboration. The joint application required under cantonal law brought the Natural History Museum, the Museum Commission and the University of Basel into a single process. The next test will be whether the transfer and subsequent ceremonies proceed according to Kawésqar wishes, with the community retaining control over the final outcome.