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Demands to return cultural treasures to their homelands are nothing new—but today they’re louder and more urgent than ever. Supporters of repatriation usually make two claims: (1) these objects are essential to the identity and history of the communities they come from, and (2) many were removed unjustly and often violently. Returning them, then, is not just about moving artifacts from one museum to another; it’s about acknowledging and repairing historical harm, challenging the legacy of colonialism and other forms of imperialism, and trying to reverse time itself.

But even the idea of “restitution” has a history of its own. Its meaning has shifted depending on who is demanding it, and why. To explore this evolution, I’ll look at three key moments in Mexican history: early appeals in the 16th century by thinkers like Alonso de la Veracruz and Bartolomé de las Casas; Emperor Maximilian’s symbolic gesture of return in the 19th century; and today’s high-profile fight over Moctezuma’s headdress, still held in Vienna. Together, these stories reveal how struggles over the past shape our vision of justice today.

Aurelia Valero Pie is from Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), in Mexico City.