The Djidji Ayôkwé, a sacred talking drum looted by French colonial troops in 1916 and taken to France, arrived back in its home village in Ivory Coast on Friday, in a ceremony held on the country’s national independence day, making it the first time Ivorians today were able to see it.
The drum, whose name translates as Panther Lion, is more than three metres long, weighs approximately 430 kilograms, and is carved from iroko wood. A traditional group of dancers and several local chiefs were at Abidjan International Airport to receive it. It is due to go on display at the Museum of Civilizations in Abidjan, which has been specially renovated.
The drum, regarded as a spiritually significant object, has deep ties to Ivorian history and traditional leadership. Its return has been welcomed by cultural authorities, historians and community leaders, who say the artifact belongs within the cultural environment from which it originated.
Ivory Coast’s Culture Minister Françoise Remarck described the moment in terms that went well beyond cultural protocol. “This is a historic day with a lot of emotions. We are living through a moment of justice and remembrance that finally marks the return of the Djidji Ayôkwé to its land of origin,” she told the BBC.
The drum is thought to have been stolen precisely because it was being used to warn local residents about forced labour recruitment by colonial authorities. Its seizure was, in other words, an act of suppression as much as plunder. Its return is an acknowledgement of what that suppression meant.
For Atchan traditional leaders, the significance was personal. “After a long stay far from its land, our sacred drum is finally returning to its people,” said Aboussou Guy Mobio, chief of the village of Adjamé-Bingerville. “It is like the missing piece of our history coming back.”
The Djidji Ayôkwé is the first object on a list of 148 artifacts.\ Ivory Coast has asked France to return. French President Emmanuel Macron first announced plans to repatriate cultural artefacts to African nations in 2018. Senegal and Benin have also asked for the repatriation of their treasures. The return of one drum after 110 years is not the end of that story. It is the beginning of a longer reckoning.
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