HPSC1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Kennewick Man
9 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Lecture 20: Trading in human remains
In the past, aboriginal remains were very important for research- racist research
Should we collect, and trade works made by human remains?
Respect and honour?
- Ojetio: you do’t respet ad hoour people y akig a owl out of their skull ad
ticking it in your living room
- Response:
1. It is a traditional form of art
2. They are dead anyways
Two issues
1. Do we owe anything to the people whose remains we trade in? Or, to the cultures that
they represent?
2. Is it okay to use human remains for some purposes (art, education) but not commerce?
Most archaeologists agree with the tribes that historical remains, some taken in wars with the
government and shipped to museums, should be given to their relatives for reburial. But in case
after case, Indian creationism is being used to forbid the study of prehistoric skeletons so old
that it would be impossible to establish a direct tribal affiliation. Under the repatriation act,
who gets the bones is often being determined not by scientific injury but by negotiation
between local tribes and the federal agencies that administer the land where the remains are
found.
Kennewick man
- The Umatilla: our histories teach that we have always lived here. Our ancestors
emerged from the spirit world below the earth
- The archaeologists: Kennewick man is too old to be related to any existing tribe.
- They a’t oth e right, ut how do we alae the oral issue respet and the
scientific one (curiosity) especially given the history of corpse-grabbing by science?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
In the past, aboriginal remains were very important for research- racist research. O(cid:271)je(cid:272)tio(cid:374): you do(cid:374)"t respe(cid:272)t a(cid:374)d ho(cid:374)our people (cid:271)y (cid:373)aki(cid:374)g a (cid:271)owl out of their skull a(cid:374)d ticking it in your living room. Response: it is a traditional form of art, they are dead anyways. Most archaeologists agree with the tribes that historical remains, some taken in wars with the government and shipped to museums, should be given to their relatives for reburial. But in case after case, indian creationism is being used to forbid the study of prehistoric skeletons so old that it would be impossible to establish a direct tribal affiliation. Under the repatriation act, who gets the bones is often being determined not by scientific injury but by negotiation between local tribes and the federal agencies that administer the land where the remains are found. The umatilla: our histories teach that we have always lived here. Our ancestors emerged from the spirit world below the earth.
