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‘Inhuman and very mischievous traffic’: early measures to cease the export of ancestral remains from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia
chapter
posted on 2023-05-24, 07:04 authored by Fforde, C, Aranui, A, Knapman, G, Paul TurnbullPaul TurnbullThis chapter considers 19th- and early 20th-century official measures, including legislation, to prevent the trade in, and regulate the export of, Indigenous human remains from New Zealand and Australia. It details the immediate historical context of the development of this legislation and its past and current implications for the supply and repatriation of Indigenous human remains. Museum archives reveal successful (and unsuccessful) attempts by collectors to break the law, suggesting there may be many Indigenous human remains in overseas institutions that were illegally exported from their country of origin. If so, such illegality provides holding institutions with few options than to repatriate. It is important to note that this chapter considers the ‘rule of law’ from the perspective of the settler state. Indigenous peoples have their own laws governing appropriate treatment of the deceased.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
The Routledge Companion to Indigenous Repatriation: return, reconcile, renewEdition
1stEditors
C Fforde, CT McKeown and H KeelerPagination
318-399ISBN
9780203730966Department/School
School of HumanitiesPublisher
RoutledgePlace of publication
United KingdomExtent
56Rights statement
Copyright 2020 The AuthorsRepository Status
- Restricted