El Nuevo mexicano., 1919-05-22
That Skull in the
Peace Treaty

Germany is to restore WITHIN ST
months : : : theskulI Of the SultaI
l0kwawa, formerly in German Eas
Africa, to his Britannia maiesty'l
government.
"The sentence from the %officia
summary of the peace treaty pre-
sented to the Germans at Versailles
set official Washington WONDERING
and swamDed libraries and scientific
institutions in the capital with IN
quiries," says a bulletin from the
National Geographic society
Among some tribes Of Africa, in,
GLIDING German East Africa. skulls Of
former rulers, called sultans, are
held in high yeneration, and their
possession aften is Of marked poll
teal value.
There are numerous tribes in
German East Africa alone, and as
many Of these sultans as there are
tribes. 1t is apparent that Sultan
Okwawa was a sort of Mohammed
or CONTIGUOUS among his clansman,
and that the nation which assum-
es sovereignty over the people who
revere his memory, and probably
worship his skeleton remains, will be
received with greater friendliness If
it can restore the precious talisman.
Furthermore the removal of the
skull sheds a sidelight upon the long
arm Of German propaganda, reaching
even into darkest Africa in contem-
plation OF der tag of Prussia's day
tha oorahfnO aauotOrfoI e,,.,
"The German government contrib
uted a goodly sum for an expedition
headed by Adolphus Frederick, Duke
of Mecklenburg, which ~ostensibly
made a scientific study Of the
German protectorate in Africa in
1907-OS.
There is good reason to believe
that the explorers were not wholly
unaware of political advantages and
by way Of a tribal coup de'etat took
away with them the skull which now
has gained such unlocked for public
THE duke wrote a book about his
in which he states, in sum
narizing the results Of his expedi-
lion, that '1,017 skulls and about
1000 ethnographica were collected
"He described visits to various
sultans. At one point he ~digresses
rom botany and linguistices to give
This naive comment on German
1t is desired to strengthen
md enrich the sultan and persons in
authority, and to increase thereby
heir interest in the continuance OF
serman rule. > > = At the same time,
y steadily controlling and directing
he sultan and using his powers, ci- ,
liking influences would be introduce
Thus by degrees, and almost
mperceptibly to the sultan himself. !!
Q eventually becomes nothing less !
han the executive instrument of the !
esident German goyernor)'
But GermaHy5s early policy in her !
-friean colonial expansion was mark I
d by no such adroit methods; rath- :
+ by Just such disregard OF native :
and ruthless measures as :
nat indicated by her removal of
lie skull referred to in the treaty. Z
.arl Peters, Of the first Ger 2
Ians to seek to exploit African re- y
lurces, instituted such a reign of !,
among the natives by inhuman
eatment and especially by whole !,
lie murders of their women that ),
10 German government was com 4
slled to remove his commission UNI I,
the storm of civilized protest i,
ew over. Il,
'But Peters was DOL restored and =,
her bureaucratic German officials q
Idely deposed native rulers, in. "
cad of cooperating with them as n
d the British, and thus melted num- N
Gus native uprisings. One of these,
1905, cost nearly 1875, 1000 native
res before the Africans succumbed
the same sort Of terrorism as that
in Belgium in 1914.
'tThe duke commented on the gem hi,
of the natives in presenting "a
its but noted that yet the pur- III
ase Of ethnographical material met
tn obstinate opposition He ex- Ca
that each clan revere some lii
tenn, believing that the spirit of
? deceased enters these objects OF co
yerence. he
The totem is just as apt to be an ill
imal, or part of an animal-the
Ike mentions the toad. crested 70
lne, the leopard and the goat-as he
skull, Incidentally this fact helps up
plain the reverence OF the old time 20
Ithern darkey for such tokens as
} left hind leg of the grave yard liz
obit caught on a dark night. ba