By: John Yang

Recently, Germany handed two indigenous Kogi masks back to Columbia. These wooden masks date all the way back to the 15th century and were sitting in the Ethnological

Museum in Berlin, Germany. They were handed over to Colombian President Gustavo Petro during a visit to Berlin, Germany.

The masks are very sacred to the Kogi People and are finally being returned after possibly hundreds of years. The masks were taken from Columbia back in 1915 by Konrad Theodor Preuss during a research trip.

A year ago, Germany and Nigeria signed an agreement that will hopefully instigate the return of more artifacts. This agreement is the reason why the masks were taken back. Around 120 years ago, hundreds of precious artifacts called the Benin Bronzes were stolen. Nigeria hopes that in, the future, they can obtain all of these treasured artifacts.

What is Columbia going to do with the masks? The masks will be given to the Kogi people and they will get to decide. Although Petro wants the masks to end up in museums, the decision is totally up to the Kogi people.

The masks were originally in Columbia, but were stolen and put in a German museum for the past century and have now finally returned to their original place. The sacred masks being returned is a massive milestone for all the other stolen artifacts.