DeepSummary
The episode focuses on a fight between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History over the repatriation of around 1,500 Native American remains from Florida that are currently in possession of the museum. The Seminoles have been trying for over a decade to get these remains, which they believe belong to their ancestors, returned to Florida for proper burial.
The museum has resisted returning the remains, citing a lack of evidence to establish a cultural affiliation between the remains and the Seminole Tribe according to their standards. This policy of requiring proof of cultural affiliation before repatriating remains has been criticized as a roadblock that allows museums to hold onto Native remains indefinitely.
The episode delves into the history of archaeologists digging up Native graves and the changing attitudes towards this practice over time, as well as the laws passed in the late 20th century aimed at facilitating the return of Native remains and artifacts from museums. It also explores the different perspectives of the tribe and museum representatives on the issue.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The Seminole Tribe of Florida has been fighting for over a decade to reclaim around 1,500 Native American remains from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History that were excavated from Florida.
- The museum has resisted returning the remains, citing a lack of evidence to establish a cultural affiliation between the remains and the Seminole Tribe according to their standards.
- The practice of archaeologists digging up Native graves and keeping remains in museums clashed with Native beliefs about properly laying ancestors to rest.
- Laws passed in the late 20th century aimed to facilitate repatriation, but the cultural affiliation standard has been criticized as a roadblock allowing museums to indefinitely retain remains.
- The Seminoles see the return of their ancestors' remains as a matter of righting a wrong, not a victory to be celebrated.
- The episode highlights the different perspectives of the tribe and museum on the possession of Native remains and the criteria for repatriation.
- Progress on repatriating remains from museums across the country has been slow, with over 115,000 Native remains still held in museums decades after laws were passed.
- The cultural affiliation standard used by museums has been criticized as subjective and giving too much power to administrators over repatriation decisions.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “What it meant to be a good archaeologist was to dig things up to then preserve them forever. So the idea that you have a particular group of people that are saying, these are our ancestors, and we want them out of your institutions, that idea goes completely against the foundational ethics of what it meant to be a professional archaeologist.“ by Chip Caldwell
- “Cultural affiliation was purpose built to depend on the judgments of museum administrators.“ by Chip Caldwell
- “There were still more than 115,000 skeletons in America's closet.“ by Chip Caldwell
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10/13/21
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