Feds order them returned to native lands

Federal prosecutors, after a five-year court fight, are hoping skull’s well that ends well.

Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue is seeking the return of a dozen “trophy heads” belonging to tribes in Borneo and Papua New Guinea, declaring in court papers that the wouldbe owner imported the creepy collectibles to California in violation of U.S. law.

The 10-page forfeiture filing alleges the 2014 shipment of ancestral human skulls hidden inside nine Indonesian wooden masks was deliberately and dramatically undervalued by its recipient, photographer and artist David Howard.

According to the court documents, Howard initially claimed the “decorated crania” were merely Indonesian knickknacks valued at just $535 – a fraction of the actual worth of nearly $40,000 for the skulls. He later acknowledged paying $3,475 for the 12 heads, more than six times his original assessment of their value.

But that’s not all: He also told Customs and Border Patrol officials that he purchased the masks “to entertain his two small children,” failing to mention the skulls secreted inside each mask. The invoice on the delivery listed only “wood masks Asmat” and “wood masks Balinese,” according to court papers.

“Importers are required to accurately describe their importations to Customs,” the prosecutor wrote. “Mr. Howard’s entry paperwork declared that the shipment contained ‘wooden masks and handicrafts.’”

The California man initially said he did not understand the shipment included actual human skulls, although he later admitted that he “previously had problems when trying to import skulls.”

That second part was true, prosecutors said.

According to court papers, Howard hand-carried a half-dozen decorated skulls from Borneo’s indigenous Dayak tribe on a flight from Japan to San Francisco in May 2009. At the time, he said the tribal artifacts were imported for “research purposes and book text illustration,” although the skulls were listed for sale eight years later via an internet website, prosecutors alleged.

Howard’s well-known art world collaborators during his long career include artists Keith Haring, Christo and Nam Jun Paik. Attempts to reach Howard for comment by email were unsuccessful Wednesday, and his phone was disconnected. But news of the government filing will no doubt travel fast.

“The United States of America requests … that the [skulls] be forfeited and condemned to the use of the United States of America [and] that the plaintiff be awarded its costs and disbursements in this action,” read the federal filing.