Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay Jr.: Why is it difficult to be a god?

In September 1871, Russian scientist Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay landed on the shores of New Guinea, which had gained a notorious reputation as a land of cannibals. However, the traveler refused to carry weapons or have guards. As he approached a Papuan village, warriors shot several arrows at him and brandished their spears threateningly. In response, Miklouho-Maclay laid down a mat on the ground, removed his shoes, and went to sleep… The beginning of this well-known story is familiar to every Russian who read books and attended school as a child. Surprisingly, the conclusion, or rather the continuation of this story, has unfolded in our days, 150 years later. News reports revealed that a descendant of Miklouho-Maclay returned 16 Papuan skulls from the Maclay Coast (the name of this territory until 1914) to their homeland, which his ancestor had taken to Australia for anthropological research in 1876.

RECOGNIZING THE ANCESTORS WHO LIVED A CENTURY AND A HALF AGO...

We contacted Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay Jr., the great-great-grandson and namesake of the great traveler. He is the founder and director of the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation for the Preservation of Ethnocultural Heritage and the head of the Center for Pacific Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay

Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS.

- Nikolai Nikolaevich, can you tell us about this collection of skulls and its fate?

- For me, it all began in 2017 during the first scientific expedition in modern Russia to Papua New Guinea. When I saw the Papuans' attitude towards the memory of Miklouho-Maclay, I realized that neither artistic books, nor scientific literature, nor family history could convey the essence of this phenomenon and its scale. These people regarded him as a god and passed down legends and stories about his life from generation to generation. That was when I learned about the collection of skulls kept in the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Nikolai Nikolaevich collected this collection to provide evidence that the Papuan race belongs to Homo sapiens. Many scientists doubted this at the time, which reflects poorly on the anthropologists of that era since the main arguments white Europeans used to deny kinship to Papuans were based on the notions that they had "rough skin and hair that grows in tufts." The skulls were transported to Sydney in 1876. It turned out that the skulls still bore the names and village names where these people lived. I thought it would be worth trying to find their descendants.

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Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay Jr. Photo provided by the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation. https://mikluho-maclay.org

- Is it even possible after 150 years?

- Here’s where it gets interesting. In 2023 and 2024, I organized expeditions to remote villages on the Maclay Coast. These were solo expeditions, and my goal was to find out how significant the influence of globalization and the internet, which were beginning to appear in these places, was. Additionally, I aimed to introduce the Papuans to the history of their villages based on illustrations from Miklouho-Maclay's diaries. I was amazed to discover that the Papuans had such a profound knowledge of their ancestors' history that they recognized them in the drawings and called them by name.

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Celebrations marking the return of the skulls. Gorendu, Papua New Guinea. Photo provided by the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation. https://mikluho-maclay.org

“I DON'T WANT MY RELATIVE TO BE A MUSEUM EXHIBIT”

- How can one recognize the appearance of their ancestors? Surely, their photographs have not survived?

- There is a rational explanation for this. Firstly, migration in the villages is minimal; the direct descendants of those who interacted with my great-great-grandfather 150 years ago still live there. Secondly, it only seems that we do not resemble our relatives. Take a photograph of yourself, your father, and your children at the same age, and you will see a clear similarity. Considering that the Papuans live in the same villages and do not move away, it is not surprising that similar faces appear from generation to generation. This gave hope that through their names, we could find the exact line of relatives entitled to claim the skulls from the Sydney collection of Miklouho-Maclay. Ultimately, we managed to prove the existence of familial ties. As one of the villagers aptly put it: “I wouldn’t want my relatives to be museum exhibits.” Moreover, Papua New Guinea is a country that has embraced Christianity. It’s worth acknowledging the Australians; they responded very positively and were accommodating. The University of Sydney fully funded the program to return 16 skulls to the Maclay Coast. I, accordingly, arranged the meeting on-site.

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The vessel that delivered the containers with the skulls. Gorendu, Papua New Guinea. Photo provided by the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation. https://mikluho-maclay.org

Photo: another source..

- How did the natives perceive all this?

- They organized a grand celebration, prepared a small hut, and cleared a space in the village of Gorendu. Do you know why they chose this particular place?

- No.

- Because it was in the village of Gorendu that Miklouho-Maclay first met the Papuans. It was on this square that he laid down his mat and went to sleep, despite the flying arrows. Essentially, he was walking to certain death. But the natives believed that the white man would not harm them… About 700 people from various villages attended the celebration. They sang a song in the Bongo dialect, which expressed sorrow for the lost ancestors who had been away from them for so long. And they celebrated the happiness that they had returned home after helping to prove that Papuans are just as human as everyone else. Community leaders spoke, and a Catholic priest offered prayers. For some time, these skulls will be kept in this hut for relatives to come and see them. Then, each will return to their village, and those from Gorendu will be buried in a special place where a memorial will be erected for them.

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Demonstration of the skulls. Gorendu, Papua New Guinea. Photo provided by the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation. https://mikluho-maclay.org

FRIENDSHIP SPANNING 150 YEARS

- You mentioned that the Papuans remember the appearance of their distant ancestors. Did they recognize you as Miklouho-Maclay?

- This situation is not as straightforward as it may seem at first glance. Yes, in 2017, I was received with great honor, but that very evening, they seated me by the fire and began to inquire in detail: who am I? What are my intentions for coming? What are my goals and objectives? So, while my appearance and name helped with the initial contact, they were primarily interested in how much I resembled Miklouho-Maclay internally. I would not have established good relations if, after some time, the Papuans had not learned that a museum of the culture and traditions of the Maclay Coast had been created based on the collection of items I gathered. Additionally, I made a film based on video recordings that tells the story of Miklouho-Maclay's travels from the Papuan perspective—something that had never been done before. They trusted me when they saw that I was interested in promoting their culture, maintaining friendly relations, and that I was genuinely committed to them, not just venerating the ancestors. And about the name… Interestingly, the name “Nikolai Maclay” is quite common among the natives.