One body playing many parts-Ie Betjouana, el Negro, and il Bosquimano

Abstract

This article talks about how the body of El Negro was stolen from southern Africa and how it was kept as an exhibit in a museum in Spain. Two French taxidermists stole the body later known as El Negro from a grave beyond the Cape Colony frontier in 1830-31. It was stuffed and displayed as 'Le Betjouana' (i.e. the Bechuana or Motswana) in France and as '1/ Betjouana' in Spain. From 1916 until 1998 it was the prime exhibit in a museum at Banyoles, north of Barcelona, where it became known as El Negro. Controversy over its display began in 1991, and was complicated by the assertion that a 'Betjouana' was a type of 'Bosquimano' (Bushman).