Jake
Teachey
October
28, 2014
In
Class Essay
Repartition
I
pledge
The Indian Bone Wars
For many years there have been ongoing
debates on whether or not is morally correct for museums to be able to dig up,
and display, Native American skeletons and remains. There have been many
different cases where Native American skeletons have been found, and then put
on display for everyone to see. The act of showing the Native American
ancestral skeletons is just plain wrong, and unfair. It is against all moral
laws, and is extremely insulting, and disrespectful to the Native Americans to
display their ancestors in such a way that the whole world can see.
There are many groups that are
pro-repartition such as the Society of American Archeology, and American
Anthropologist Association. These two groups argue that with the technology we
have in present day unlocks a whole new level of research, and scientific
endeavors. They say that if we study
these bones then we will be able to know much more about dieses and the
undocumented past of the Native American lifestyle. On the contrary a modern
day Native American, Carl Bryant Rogers brings up a very true point. “Why
single out the Indians, why not dig up everyone else’s ancestors” this
statement brings up a great point in which why do the bones on display have to
be from the Native Americans. Why not just go to a cemetery and dig up other
skeletons? The main reason they are choosing to use Native Americans is because
there is a hint of racism in there.
As previously stated there is Racism
all through out the Repartition Act, and the “Indian Bone Wars”. The Pawnee Burial pits in Salina Kansas show
the Racism in all of this. These Burial Pits were finally covered in 2010
largely thanks to Walter Hawk who is a Pawnee himself and a leading lobbyist
for repartition movement. He also brings up a very sad but true statement. He
states “if you desecrate a white grave you go to jail for 10 years, but if you
desecrate a Indian grave you earn your self a P.H.D.” This shows the underlying
tone of Racism, because even though the Indian bones and skeletons may be old
they are still no different from any other skeleton, so why is it just the
Indians which are being dug up? The way Hawk looks at it is it should not be
difficult to understand that their Ancestors should rest in peace, and that
scientist should respect there religious beliefs of life after death. The
Native Americans feel as if it unfair that they are being singled out. For
example, remains of hundreds of thousands of Indians lay in drawers and on
shelf’s in museums. The Smithsonian alone had an estimated 19,000 Native
Americans skeletons in their museums.
One final example of why the bones
should all be returned and reburied properly is the Dickson Mounds in Southern
Illinois. Many Native Americans protest on a daily basis that the museum should
be shut down, and that their ancestors should be able to rest in peace. The
museum states they should not have to close down because never have they made
the bones a “sideshow” or a “carnival act”, and have never made any profit off
of showing the bones, they are just their to enrich the tourist with ancient
artifacts of the surrounding area. The Museum says that the skeletal remains
are over 900 years old, and cannot be traced in anyway to a specific tribe. The
Native Americans did not take that statement lightly, and they feel as if they
need to respect any ancestral remains of whatever tribe the skeletons belong
too no matter how old. The Indians are destined to wander restlessly,
protesting daily, until the bones are properly reburied. They intend to picket,
file complaints, and protest until the bones are removed.
The main point that needs to be
addressed in the Repartition movement is Equality. It would be a completely
different story if everyone’s ancestors were getting dug up and shoved in glass
cases for everyone to look at. It is important to respect the beliefs of
different cultures, and if one culture believes after you are buried you should
be able to rest in peace then so be it.
The problem is for the most part the Native Americans have been singled
out in this situation; they have been left on the side of the road so everyone
can stop and look. For the most part the Museums that choose to display remains
of Native Americans are being nothing but inconsiderate, and disrespectful. The
Native Americans deserve to be treated no differently then any other group,
equality is key in this situation.
