The repatriation of human remains – problem or opportunity?

Antiquity ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 78 (300) ◽  
pp. 404-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurajane Smith
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Culture Media ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Historical Continuity

The editor’s question “who do human skeletons belong to?” (Antiquity 78: 5) can be answered positively, but it must be answered in context. The question was prompted by reports from the Working Group on Human Remains established by the British government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2001 to review the current legal status of human remains held in all publicly funded museums and galleries, and to consider and review submissions on the issue of the return of non-UK human remains to their descendent communities (DCMS 2003: 1-8). In effect, the report was primarily concerned with human remains from Indigenous communities, using a definition which follows the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as “distinct cultural groups having a historical continuity with pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories” (DCMS 2003:7). Consequently, the report deals primarily with the Indigenous communities of Australia, New Zealand and North America.

Return of the Natives: Explaining the Development and Non-Development of Political Action by Indigenous Peoples in Democratic Political Systems

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-480
Author(s):  
Lee E. Dutter
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Political Action ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Present Treatment ◽  
Or Groups ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Political Actions

Studies of individuals or groups who might use violence or terrorism in pursuit of political goals often focus on the specific actions which these individuals or groups have taken and on the policies which defenders (that is, governments of states) against such actions may adopt in response. Typically, less attention is devoted to identifying the relevant preconditions of political action and possible escalation to violence and how or why potential actions may be obviated before they occur. In the context of democratic political systems, the present analysis addresses these issues via examination of indigenous peoples, who typically constitute tiny fractions of the population of the states or regions in which they reside, in terms of their past and present treatment by governments and the political actions, whether non-violent or violent, which individuals from these peoples have engaged or may engage. The specific peoples examined are Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia, Haudenosaunee of North America, Inuit of Canada, Maori of New Zealand, and Saami of Scandinavia.

John Eliot, John Veniaminov, and Christian engagement with the indigenous peoples of North America: A comparative missiology

2020 ◽  
pp. 009182961988717
Author(s):  
Joseph William Black
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
North America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Colonial History ◽  
Early American ◽  
The Bible ◽  
John Eliot ◽  
The Face ◽  
Christian Literature

John Eliot was the 17th-century settler Puritan clergyman who sought to engage his Wampanoag neighbors with the Christian gospel, eventually learning their language, winning converts, establishing schools, translating the Bible and other Christian literature, even establishing villages of converted native Americans, before everything was wiped out in the violence of the King Philip War. John Eliot is all but forgotten outside the narrow debates of early American colonial history, though he was one of the first Protestants to attempt to engage his indigenous neighbors with the gospel. John Veniaminov was a Russian Orthodox priest from Siberia who felt called to bring Christianity to the indigenous Aleut and Tinglit peoples of island and mainland Alaska. He learned their languages, established schools, gathered worshiping communities, and translated the liturgies and Christian literature into their languages. Even in the face of later American persecution and marginalization, Orthodoxy in the indigenous communities of Alaska remains a vital and under-acknowledged Christian presence. Later made a bishop (Innocent) and then elected the Metropolitan of Moscow, Fr. John (now St. Innocent) is lionized in the Russian Church but almost unknown outside its scope, even in Orthodox circles. This article examines the ministries of these men, separated by time and traditions, and yet working in similar conditions among the indigenous peoples of North America, to learn something of both their missionary motivation and their methodology.

Public Health and Indigenous Peoples: North America, Australia, and New Zealand

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margo L. Greenwood ◽  
Regine Halseth ◽  
Nicole Lindsay ◽  
Hilary McGregor ◽  
Sarah de Leeuw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples

Place-Consciousness and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model: A Discussion of Recurring Issues that Undermine the Teaching of Indigenous Histories in New Zealand and Australian Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Manning
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
Tasman Sea ◽  
Ecological Systems Model ◽  
Indigenous Land

This article draws upon a ‘tale from the field’ (Van Maanen, 1988) to encourage New Zealand and Australian teachers of history and social studies to appraise how their own perceptions of place and teaching about Indigenous peoples’ histories impact upon their students’ learning. Moreover, it explains why Uri Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological systems model (despite its limitations) can assist the process of critiquing the teaching of Indigenous histories in schools on both sides of the Tasman Sea. It concludes that place conscious Indigenous land-based learning experiences, resulting from mutually beneficial collaborations with Indigenous communities, are needed to enhance the teaching of Indigenous peoples’ histories in both countries.

Forms of Participation of Indigenous Peoples of North America in Administration of Justice

10.12737/4829 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 104-116
Author(s):  
Лариса Чернухина ◽  
Larisa Chernukhina
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Aboriginal People ◽  
Administration Of Justice ◽  
The Usa

The author examines the legal status of the aboriginal people of North America in the USA and Canada as well as the protection of their rights. The article explores the legislation of these countries which provides protection of aboriginal people at the administration of justice.

scholarly journals Regaining Authority: Setting the Agenda in Maori Heritage through the Control and Shaping of Data

2006 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard O'Regan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Common Theme ◽  
The South ◽  
The Future ◽  
And Control ◽  
Associated Data

Conflict or a reconciliation of it is a common theme in discussions on indigenous peoples’ heritage. Whereas conflict is often expressed in claims of ownership and control, sometimes legally contested, this article suggests that the pragmatic issue of possessing and shaping the associated data is equally important to indigenous peoples’ attempt to reclaim their treasures. This idea is explored through case studies of the experience of the Ngai Tahu tribe of the South Island of New Zealand regarding the future of ancestral human remains and their rock art heritage.

scholarly journals Indigenous Rights and Governance in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsty Gover
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Large Field ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Cultural Rights

Indigenous rights are now a core part of the constitutional frameworks of the western settler states, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. The recognition of specific group rights for indigenous peoples raises complex challenges for the political and legal theory of the liberal democracies. Notwithstanding the significant constitutional and historical differences between these three states, in the past several decades, all have embarked on processes of land claims settlement and official recognition of indigenous peoples. The resulting arrangements are designed to protect the distinctive identities of indigenous peoples, to give effect to historic agreements, and to restore indigenous rights to property, territory, and self-governance. Legal mechanisms include those giving effect to common-law aboriginal title rights, cultural rights and exemptions, self-governance rights, special representation rights, and nondiscrimination rights. In Canada and New Zealand, but not Australia, some indigenous rights are premised on historic treaties. Recognized indigenous rights are expressed in various provisions of public legislation (including, in Canada, the Constitution Act), in indigenous-state agreements on land claims and self-governance, in formal and informal agreements on local governance, and in official apologies. Literature on indigenous rights includes a small but important body of political theory exploring and critiquing the application of theories of cultural pluralism, a large field of secondary legal literature on country-specific arrangements, comparative work considering matters of transnational application in the western settler states, and a sizable body of work on anthropological and cultural theories of indigeneity. This bibliography is intended to provide a sample of commentary to guide researchers in forays into the rapidly developing field of indigenous rights and indigenous governance. There is a vast and growing body of commentary on the legal and political status of indigenous communities in the western settler states. This collection cannot hope to be comprehensive. The emphasis of this selection is on secondary legal sources and analysis and does not include reference to cases or legislation. Wherever possible, comparative works have been included, to show the development of transnational law and policy on indigenous peoples and the sharing of concepts across legal jurisdictions. Likewise, the bibliography has been designed to emphasize works on indigenous laws and institutions, and commentary by indigenous commentators.

Whipping and jailing: The Kapuria jail, indigenous self-government and the hybridization of punishment in Colombia

Incarceration ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 263266632199446
Author(s):  
Libardo José Ariza ◽  
Manuel Iturralde
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Indigenous Communities

There are currently 105,148 people imprisoned in Colombia; of these, 777 are indigenous. Although this may seem a small number (especially when compared with the disproportional presence of indigenous people in countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), their imprisonment shows the persistence of colonial practices within the predominant legal discourse that undermine the indigenous peoples’ right to self-government. However, they also reveal a process of hybridization of punishment, where traditional punishments ( whipping) and Western forms of punishment ( jailing) meet and transform each other, leading to different forms of punishment—and resistance. This article studies how some of the most representative indigenous communities in Colombia have appropriated prison as a form of punishment, the factors that have influenced this process, and its possible outcomes.

scholarly journals Constitutional Recognition: within a colonial framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Songco
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
State Politics ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Constitutional Convention ◽  
National Movement ◽  
Indigenous Land ◽  
Made In

Constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians has been a longstanding national movement reflective of the international struggle of Indigenous communities within a colonial framework. The Uluru Statement from the Heart, delivered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, addressed to the Australian public, called for support in the creation of constitutional reforms to build on changes made in the 1967 Referendum. Glen Sean Coulthard’s Red Skin, White Masks takes a difference stance on recognition for Indigenous peoples, specifically citing First Nations peoples in North America. In understanding the goals of the Uluru Statement and the arguments raised in Red Skin, White Masks, constitutional recognition may begin to address vital problems such as the dispossession of Indigenous land and lack of inclusion in state politics, but its existence as part of the settler-colonial governance will always act as a deterrent for true decolonization.

scholarly journals Te Hokinga Mai O Ngā Tūpuna: Māori Perspectives of Repatriation and the Scientific Research of Ancestral Remains.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amber Aranui
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Indigenous Perspective ◽  
Descendant Communities

<p>The repatriation of human remains has been the subject of much discussion and debate, especially since the 1990s. Since then, there has been a marked increase in the international literature relating to museums, indigenous peoples and repatriation; however, this literature is mainly written from the perspective of museums and universities. Although there has been some publication of the views on repatriation of indigenous communities there is a conspicuous absence of Māori perspectives in this literature. In particular, there is a lack of Māori voice on the repatriation of ancestral remains, as well as a lack of commentary on the so-called scientific research on ancestral remains that has taken place, and continues to take place, in universities, museums, and medical institutions around the world. This lack of indigenous perspective in the repatriation literature has resulted in mainstream assumptions about why indigenous communities, such as Māori, have been so active in repatriation activities over the last 25 years. The assumptions have tended to view the motives of indigenous peoples as politically motivated and even go as far as describing them as “activist” in nature rather than motivated by cultural beliefs and imperatives. This perceived view, as well as the views of many writers in the scientific and museum professions who do not agree with the repatriation of human remains back to origin communities because of their “loss to science” and therefore humankind, has prompted hotly contested debates concerning these issues. These contested views lead inevitably to the question of consent and whether the taking of skeletal remains from burial contexts to carry out ‘scientific’ research without consent is deemed ethical by today’s standards.  The primary aim of this thesis is to document Māori perspectives on the repatriation of ancestral human remains and to understand the significance of Māori ancestral human remains for descendant communities. A secondary aim is to review some of the scientific research which has been carried out on Māori ancestral remains, and to identify the benefits, if any, of that research for descendant communities.</p>

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