Botswana is a signatory to UN Conventions which protect cultural heritage and prevent illicit trade of the patrimony of other states. The final return of El Negro highlighted the uneven relations between developed nations who have custody of important heritage collections from the African continent. El Negro, however, was not an artifact but was a human being displayed in a museum. His return and reburial in Botswana, and the reaction of Batswana and Africans in general, involved critical issues of African identity, ethnic minorities, and usually unspoken perceptions about death, burial and ritual in Botswana. The return of El Negro occurred against a background of their events in Botswana, including the disappearance of people, ritual murder accusations and capital punishment sentences on two men from the Basarwa (Bushman) minority. These have all been reported in the media and have generated public debate in issues of death, identity and globalisation. This paper suggests that the El Negro case can befitted into broader discourse about ethnic minorities, globalisation and scientific practice in the 21st century.
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