REPATRIATION FROM SCOTTISH MUSEUMS: Learning from NAGPRA

Abstract

Museums in Scotland have been involved in a number of high-profile repatriation cases over the past 20 years, including Glasgow Museums' return of the Ghost Dance Shirt in 1999, the repatriation of human remains from the University of Edinburgh since 1991, and the repatriation by the University of Aberdeen of a sacred bundle in 2003. This paper considers the approaches taken to the repatriation of human remains and sacred items by museums in Scotland. Working without specific legislation like the United States' 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), some museums in Scotland have developed procedures with which to consider repatriation requests. In particular, this paper discusses the advantages of “educative” criteria within such processes. Also considered are features of Scottish history and cultural identities that have affected the responses by museums and the public to requests for repatriation, while arguing that museums, like those in Scotland, operating without repatriation legislation should take the opportunity to engage voluntarily with the issue and so be involved in creating an appropriate contemporary role for themselves.