10/12/2015
Professor Muller
Skeletons
Haida Gwaii
The world has many views of mortuary belief systems and how a person should be taken care of or preserved after death. There are scientific views and tribal views and religious views from all over the world and no one of them is the right way. The Haida Gwaii people believe in burial and celebration much like a Catholic believer would view a funeral. The scientific perspective and the Haida’s perspective on human skeletal remains and artifacts are different on different levels and who owns what artifacts if they’re found in certain places. The past views of how museums own skeletons has changed within the past years and different tribes are jumping on the opportunity such as the Haida Gwaii. …show more content…
religion, right vs. wrong, and on and on. Although framing the complex social issues underlying the debate in this way may be politically expedient, it is counterproductive for anyone else seeking a solution that balances the concerns of descendants against those of the scientific community. It is obvious to notice the details of rituals in different cultures and countries have devised for the treatment of the dead have varied enormously among the cultures of the world through time. The practice of funeral rites by friends and relatives and the use of a method of disposing of the body seen to be human universals, but beyond that is little …show more content…
Unbeknownst to the Haida, these adventurers also dug up graves and looted mortuary poles, taking away hundreds of skeletons to be used in a bizarre and ultimately futile scientific quest. Not until the early 1990s did the young people of Haida Gwaii learn that the remains of their ancestors along with more than 100,000 from other tribes were in museum basements. When they found this out, they decided to do something about it. The return of Haida human remains began with a few dedicated people and grew to involve hundreds of people. The Old Massett Repatriation Committee was formed in 1997. The Committee met to plan, fundraise, sew button blankets, weave cedar mats, and make wax-dipped flowers. In 1999, the Skidegate Repatriation Committee formed so those ancestral remains could be brought home at once. The Haida Nation proceeded as one Committee to repatriate the Haida ancestors’ remains. Haidas have strong spiritual beliefs that made the repatriation project important. They believe that everyone has a spirit. The spirits of their ancestors have gone with the skeletal remains that are locked in museums. The Haida people believe there are 300 Haida spirits in museums that want to come home to Haida
Professor Muller
Skeletons
Haida Gwaii
The world has many views of mortuary belief systems and how a person should be taken care of or preserved after death. There are scientific views and tribal views and religious views from all over the world and no one of them is the right way. The Haida Gwaii people believe in burial and celebration much like a Catholic believer would view a funeral. The scientific perspective and the Haida’s perspective on human skeletal remains and artifacts are different on different levels and who owns what artifacts if they’re found in certain places. The past views of how museums own skeletons has changed within the past years and different tribes are jumping on the opportunity such as the Haida Gwaii. …show more content…
religion, right vs. wrong, and on and on. Although framing the complex social issues underlying the debate in this way may be politically expedient, it is counterproductive for anyone else seeking a solution that balances the concerns of descendants against those of the scientific community. It is obvious to notice the details of rituals in different cultures and countries have devised for the treatment of the dead have varied enormously among the cultures of the world through time. The practice of funeral rites by friends and relatives and the use of a method of disposing of the body seen to be human universals, but beyond that is little …show more content…
Unbeknownst to the Haida, these adventurers also dug up graves and looted mortuary poles, taking away hundreds of skeletons to be used in a bizarre and ultimately futile scientific quest. Not until the early 1990s did the young people of Haida Gwaii learn that the remains of their ancestors along with more than 100,000 from other tribes were in museum basements. When they found this out, they decided to do something about it. The return of Haida human remains began with a few dedicated people and grew to involve hundreds of people. The Old Massett Repatriation Committee was formed in 1997. The Committee met to plan, fundraise, sew button blankets, weave cedar mats, and make wax-dipped flowers. In 1999, the Skidegate Repatriation Committee formed so those ancestral remains could be brought home at once. The Haida Nation proceeded as one Committee to repatriate the Haida ancestors’ remains. Haidas have strong spiritual beliefs that made the repatriation project important. They believe that everyone has a spirit. The spirits of their ancestors have gone with the skeletal remains that are locked in museums. The Haida people believe there are 300 Haida spirits in museums that want to come home to Haida