FBI chief returns looted Papuan artefacts to Indonesia

FBI director Kash Patel handed over a collection of looted Indonesian artefacts to president Prabowo Subianto in what Jakarta described as an important step in restoring the nation’s cultural sovereignty.

Indonesian culture minister Fadli Zon said the return of the artefacts from the Papua region was part of ongoing cooperation between his ministry and the FBI to recover cultural objects that had been illegally smuggled into the US.

The recovered items include stone axes and ceremonial objects linked to the Dani, Asmat, and Sentani tribes of Papua.

The ministry said that traditional stone axes from Papua were valued far beyond their practical use as communities in the highlands, including the Dani, regarded them as markers of social status and wealth, used them in marriages and other ceremonial exchanges, and passed them down generations as prized heirlooms.

Mr Zon said the artefacts would be displayed at the National Museum. “Patel brought Indonesian cultural artefacts as part of cooperation between the Indonesian government, through the culture ministry, and the FBI to return cultural objects that had been illegally smuggled into the United States,” he said. “These are very valuable objects because this repatriation process is part of our effort to restore our cultural sovereignty.”

The US previously returned a pair of bronze sculptures depicting the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The 8th-century Buddhist sculptures had been taken from Indonesian archaeological sites and then sold to an American collector through the late antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford.

They were among 34 Southeast Asian artefacts voluntarily surrendered by the collector in 2021 after investigations found that the items had been looted.

The Indonesian government has stepped up efforts in recent years to recover cultural artefacts held overseas, many of which were removed during the colonial period, stolen, or acquired through illegal trafficking networks.

In January last year, Indonesia displayed over 800 artefacts returned by the Netherlands after years of negotiations. The Netherlands ruled Indonesia as a colonial power for almost four centuries.

The collection, which was exhibited at the National Museum in Jakarta, included stone Buddha statues, jewellery, royal objects, paintings and weapons.

The artefacts, returned under a 2022 repatriation agreement, were looted during conflicts, taken by colonial-era scientists and missionaries, or smuggled by mercenaries during colonial rule.

The famous “Java Man” fossil, one of the earliest and most important discoveries of Homo erectus, was also returned to Indonesia last year from the Netherlands, more than 130 years after it was discovered in East Java.