The repatriation of human remains is a fundamental act for the healing of colonial trauma, as it restores dignity to the ancestors and to the communities that were deprived of them. This process not only corrects a historical injustice, but also opens a space for recognition and symbolic reparation, strengthening collective memory and the sense of identity. By enabling peoples to decide on the destiny of their ancestors, it affirms their right to self-determination and contributes to the reconstruction of spiritual, cultural, and emotional bonds that were broken by colonial violence.

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We are therefore facing a complex path of great responsibility, but one that also represents an invaluable opportunity to advance in historical reparation and the dignification of memory.

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During the Ko Aswal activity held at the Ethnographic Museum of the city of Zurich in 2023, a graduate student from the University of Basel approached us with interest in conducting an interview. It was at that moment that she mentioned the existence of Kawésqar human remains in the Natural History Museum of Basel. Based on that information, the first contact was established with the museum, which expressed an open disposition to proceed with a restitution process. It is important to note, however, that this institution has little prior experience in this field.

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From the Kawésqar People Foundation, we already had consolidated ties with the Embassy of Chile in Switzerland and the Embassy of Switzerland in Chile, which we wished to maintain. Considering the interest both had expressed on these matters, it was decided to involve them from the outset. In this way, the process—still in its early stages—has counted on the active participation of both diplomatic representations, making it different from other repatriation processes carried out in Chile.

Likewise, with the purpose of integrating national institutions, a repatriation roundtable was established in Punta Arenas, bringing together organizations such as the Regional Secretariat of the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage—playing a key role in institutional coordination and support—the National Corporation for Indigenous Development, whose main mission is to promote, coordinate, and execute state action in favor of the comprehensive development of Indigenous peoples, academia, and the Salesian Museum Maggiorino Borgatello in Punta Arenas. Each of these actors has contributed their knowledge and experience in drafting the protocol to guide the process.

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And most importantly, the Kawésqar people is directly involved in the process. For example, the next phase, which will begin soon, involves informing and engaging in direct dialogue with the Kawésqar families. To this end, seminars and workshops will be organized, conceived both as educational instances and as spaces for healing. The goal is that the communities themselves may exercise their self-determination with regard to the restitution of their ancestors. Raphael will explain how this phase is integrated into the overall project cycle and how it has been recorded in the Basel Restitution Protocol 2025.