New Demands for Return of Aztec Headdress from Austria

Diego Cevallos

MEXICO CITY, Feb 14 (IPS) - Mexico has not given up on its campaign to get Austria to return what is thought to be the headdress worn by Aztec emperor Moctezuma. But there is little hope for success, despite the optimism of indigenous activists and others fighting to reclaim it from the Ethnological Museum in Vienna.

In the latest of a series of unsuccessful petitions that have been made over the past 20 years, the Mexican government of Vicente Fox pressed Austria in January to return the headdress.

On a May 2005 visit to Mexico, Austrian President Heinz Fischer said "This is a topic that doesn't only affect Austria, but rather all of Europe and all the museums in Europe," involving the handling and treatment of articles from foreign cultures and countries.

Authorities in Austria worry that the return of the headdress would trigger a flood of similar claims aimed at recovering dozens of valuable pre-Hispanic objects that were illegally taken from Mexico.

Wilfried Seipel, director of the Ethnological Museum in Vienna, has declared in the past that the bejewelled feather headdress is the indisputable property of the Austrian state.

Fox will travel to Vienna in May to take part in a summit of European Union, Latin American and Caribbean leaders. He plans to take the opportunity to meet with Austrian authorities to reiterate the request for the return of the headdress, according to government spokespersons.

"We have an 85 percent chance of getting Moctezuma's headdress back to Mexico," the president of the Yankuikanahuak Cultural Association, Xokonoschtletl Gomora, recently stated. The indigenous activist has led several demonstrations in Austria and Mexico to demand the return of the crown.

He explained that his optimism was based on the government's recent representations, and on the exhortation that a group of members of the European Parliament sent to Austria's Foreign Ministry, asking it to return the headdress to Mexico on the occasion of the Vienna summit.

"We have already submitted our request to the Austrian government, and we hope it will recognise the need for this piece to return to our country," said Ernesto Derbez, the Mexican foreign minister.

When the Mexican Foreign Ministry was pressing for the return of the crown three years ago, Blanca Barragán Moctezuma, a historian who claims descent from the Aztec emperor, announced that the return of the headdress was imminent and would take place in 2004. But that did not occur.

"I don't think they'll ever hand over the headdress, because it's Austrian property now. It entered that country legally, they keep it in excellent condition, and returning or even loaning it is prohibited under their laws," archaeologist Teodoro Márquez, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), told IPS.

Several researchers have cast doubts on the origin of the headdress, the manner in which it reached Austria, and even whether it was owned by Moctezuma Xocoyotzin (1466-1520), the last Aztec emperor.

Even its function as a headdress is in doubt. According to Gerardo del Olmo Linares, a local researcher of pre-Hispanic iconography, it is really a feather cape that was worn by a priest, not necessarily by Moctezuma.

In fact, there is no reliable proof that the headdress belonged to Moctezuma, says UNAM historian Alejandro González.

But the Fox administration, possible descendants of the emperor, and indigenous activists have few doubts about the headdress, and argue that it is essential for it to be returned to Mexico.

The artifact, which is made of feathers from the colourful quetzal bird, an endangered species native to southern Mexico and Central America, was removed from Mexican territory five centuries ago, during the Spanish colonial era. What happened to it afterwards is far from clear. Austria bought it in 1880, and it has been exhibited in Vienna since 1929.

According to one theory, it was stolen by Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. He sent it to Spain, but the ship that was carrying it was attacked by French pirates.

In another version of history, however, Moctezuma gave it to Cortés in the hope that it would assuage his thirst for further treasure.

The crown, which is said to symbolise the wisdom and power of Moctezuma, remained in France for 50 years and was later auctioned in Vienna, where it lay for decades in poor conditions, some historians say.

"Nothing about this famous headdress is definitely proven, but an aura of sanctity has grown up around it, together with the belief that it should be returned for the sake of the dignity of the Mexican people," said Márquez.

"I think that, once again, the Mexican government won't get very far with this new attempt to bring the headdress back to this country, although extraordinary things can always happen," he stated. (END/2006)

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