Collecting The Dead: Archaeology And The Reburial Issue

The controversial "reburial issue" first developed almost 25 years ago. At this time, some indigenous groups started to campaign for the return of their ancestral human remains from museums and collecting institutions, and these requests were refused. Since then, museums in some countries have responded positively to repatriation requests whilethose in others continue to refuse them. This incisive book provides the reader with what has been generally missing in the current debate and available literature -- a detailed historical understanding of how and why these collections were amassed, and the responses of indigenous groups and collectors at the time. The book focuses particularly on Australia as a background to its documentation and examination of the issue.The reburial question has had wide repercussions for all involved. Today, the topic is of continuing relevance for archaeologists, anthropologists, museum professionals, and for many indigenous groups worldwide. The issue highlights two very different approaches to items, which hold exceptional importance in many cultures -- human remains. It is also about the relationship between science and the peoples whose past isthe subject of academic enquiry, and how the sometimes hegemonic nature of this relationship has, through the issue documented here, relentlessly bubbled to the surface. What may appear at first a simple clash of interests is thus revealed to have many deeper aspects.