Illinois State Museum to return memorial post to officials from Kenya       

[SEPT. 12, 2006]  SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois State Museum will return a Kenyan kigango, a wood memorial post, to the National Museums of Kenya on Wednesday at a ceremony at the State Museum. The post will be returned to the family from which it had been stolen during the mid-1980s. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced the return of the post last week during the African Festival of the Arts in Chicago.

The kigango, a carved, decorated wooden post, was made in Kenya in the 1960s to memorialize relatives of Kalume Mwakiru. The museum will present the post to a delegation from Kenya, headed by Suleiman Shakombo, minister of state for national heritage, and also including representatives from the National Museums of Kenya.

In February 2006, the National Museums of Kenya sent a letter requesting that the Illinois State Museum return the post to them for return to the family. Based on evidence presented by the National Museums, the post was stolen from Kenya in 1985. It was then purchased by an art dealer, sold to an individual and later donated to Illinois State University. The Illinois State Museum acquired the memorial post with an African collection transferred by Illinois State University in 2001.

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What: Return of a Kenyan memorial post to officials from Kenya

When: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Illinois State Museum Auditorium, 502 S. Spring St. (corner of Spring and Edwards streets), Springfield

Who:

• Dr. Bonnie Styles, director of the Illinois State Museum

• Leslie Sgro, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources

• Kenyan delegation:

• Suleiman Shakombo, minister of state for national heritage, Kenya

• Dr. Idle Omar Farah, director general, National Museums of Kenya

• Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia, director of museums, sites and monuments, National Museums of Kenya

• Jimbi Katana, principal curator, National Museums of Kenya

• Mrs. Elizabeth Ouma, program manager, Museum Interactive Program, National Museums of Kenya

• Ms. Susan Njoki Ndungu, Ministry of National Heritage

• Dr. Michael Wiant, director, Dickson Mounds Museum

• Dr. Terrance Martin, chairman of anthropology, Illinois State Museum

• Dr. Jonathan Reyman, curator of anthropology, Illinois State Museum

• Dr. Monica Udvardy, University of Kentucky

[Illinois Department of Natural Resources news release]