Native American Repatriation Research Articles

Leaving Few Bones Unturned: Recent Work on Repatriation by Osteologists

In this essay, I consider recent osteological and bioarchaeological contributions to literature on Native American repatriation given the heightened visibility of theoretical and methodological conflicts within physical anthropology over race and race determination. Contestations between researchers, particularly at the osteological nexus with the traditional biological race concept, have intersected with repatriation, both in and out of the anthropological literature, and in federal district court. The publications reviewed here exemplify this emerging multiplicity of practice in osteology and bioarchaeology, and therefore, in toto, incisively portray the complexities that repatriation has brought to skeletal inquiry in the United States.

A Historian's Brief Guide to New Museum Studies

A Historian's Brief Guide to New Museum Studies

Keeping‐While‐Giving‐Back: Computer Imaging and Native American Repatriation

PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology ReviewVolume 24, Issue 2 p. 39-57 Keeping-While-Giving-Back: Computer Imaging and Native American Repatriation Kathryn Milun, Kathryn Milun Arizona State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Kathryn Milun, Kathryn Milun Arizona State UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: 09 January 2008 https://doi.org/10.1525/pol.2001.24.2.39Citations: 5AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume24, Issue2November 2001Pages 39-57 RelatedInformation

Anna Lee Walters's Ghost Singer Links Native Diasporas in Time and Space

If an alien observer wrote an anthropological account of the problem addressed by the Native American repatriation movement, it might go something like this: The earth was populated for millennia with people whose lifeways worked, who used the earth's resources as if they were part of nature, and who distributed these resources as if all had an equal right to them. But then a group began to develop an economic system of wealth accumulation by thefew at the expense of the many. Eventually their hierarchical culture of unequal distribution exhausted the resources of their own land and people, so they began to spread out and range the globe, seeking more land, more resources, and more of their brethren to exploit. The peoples indigenous to > each area they arrived at were often decimated by diseases brought by the invaders, representing numerous nation-states but known collectively as Europeans. The indigenous peoples were also murdered, moved off their land onto reservations, and the survivors were forced to assimilate to the Europeans' culture, including language and modes of dress, andforced to provide wealthfor the accumulators' benefit through their 3 7 labor and the theft of their land and resources. According to ships' logs and the diaries of the earliest invaders, the Europeans also dug up graves and took the bodies of the indigenous dead-those who had died recently and those long dead and buried-along with anything buried with them. These made their way into the collections of private individuals in Europe and the colonies, eventually the international trade in these remains and objects, along with any other

Repatriation as Social Drama: The Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia, 1922-1980

The Kwakiutl Indians-who live at the north end ofVancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia-are well-known from the extensive collections and writings of anthropologist Franz Boas.1 They also are the subjects of a classic and well-documented case of the repatriation of artifacts from museum collections. This essay will recount the history of this process of inter-cultural definition and negotiation, and consider some of the more general features of Native American repatriation. The first Westerner the Kwakiutl encountered was British trader James Strange in 1786.2 Although they participated actively in the maritime fur trade that followed in the early nineteenth century, the Kwakiutl did not experience substantial culture change until 1849 when the Hudson's Bay Company established a post at Fort Rupert. Situated on the northeast end of Vancouver Island, Fort Rupert had not been a traditional village site, but Kwakiutl soon settled around it to take advantage of trade with the whites. By the late 1890s, the village had been supplanted as the principal site of acculturation, with the growth in another new settlement, Alert Bay on nearby Cormorant Island. Established in the 1870s as a salmon saltery-soon replaced with a cannery-Alert Bay became the focal point for Kwakiutl participation in a rapidly expanding commercial economy of fishing and logging. Their success at the new ways led to a period of great prosperity (19001920s) and a shift to new forms of clothing, housing, and tools. The town was also the site for intensive culture change through an Anglican mission and school. Governmental controls came in the form of an Indian agency and the creation of reserves, small portions of aboriginal territory that were recognized by the federal government. At the same time, Kwakiutl population declined steadily and swiftly throughout the century, due largely to disease.

Purgatory and the Powerful Dead: A Case Study of Native American Repatriation

… what an enhancement of the power of the living there was in this hold over the dead.… And for the Church, what a marvelous instrument of power!… Purgatory brought the Church not only new spiritual power but also, to put it bluntly, considerable profit.Throughout history, human communities have converted the dead into sources of living power by grafting symbolic structures onto them and their places of interment. The impact of these structures on society, however, indicates that the “dead” are understood as more than physical remains. The dead can be imagined also as memories, spirits, or deities, and the physical or spiritual locations where they reside are essential to the vitality of the symbolism. When the dead are symbolized and carefully integrated into cultural and/or religious systems, they can become a potent source of political power for those who control the meaning of the dead and their physical remains. For this reason, the dead—especially their tombs and remains—have historically been a valuable commodity in the religious and cultural marketplace.

Purgatory and the Powerful Dead: A Case Study of Native American Repatriation

Throughout history, human communities have converted the into sources of living power by grafting symbolic structures onto them and their places of interment. The impact of these structures on society, however, indicates that the dead are understood as more than physical remains. The can be imagined also as memories, spirits, or deities, and the physical or spiritual locations where they reside are essential to the vitality of the symbolism. When the are symbolized and carefully integrated into cultural and/or religious systems, they can become a potent source of political power for those who control the meaning of the and their physical remains. For this reason, the dead-especially their tombs and remains-have historically been a valuable commodity in the religious and cultural marketplace.2 The process of politicizing the spiritual and physical remains of the dead, an identifiable pattern in many religious traditions, suggests that there is an integral relation between religious identity, cultural constructions of power, and death. When conflict arises and the meaning and handling of the are disputed by interested parties, the battle for control can lead to important changes in both identity and the distribution of social power. Indeed, a recent issue of national importance to some Native Americans is repatriation; in effect, the control and return of human burials and associated artifacts now held by educational institutions and museums throughout the United States. For some Native American groups, claiming solidarity with the burials has led to an enhancement of the power of the living and a restructuring of the other world of the dead.3 When examined as a means of gathering

Mediation and native American repatriation of human remains

AbstractThis article works the reader through actual casework conducted by mediators from the California State Native American Heritage Commission and the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice. It explores mediation of disputes on Native American repatriation as a relatively new and sensitive area and describes how such cases with divergent interests can find solutions through mediation. The authors pay particular attention to the premediation stages of these cases, which set the stage for a review of the actual disputed issues and resolutions derived from a series of five cases.