Overview
Who owns the past and the objects that physically connect us to history? And who has the right to decide this ownership, particularly when the objects are sacred or, in the case of skeletal remains, human? Is it the museums that care for the objects or the communities whose ancestors made them? These questions are at the heart of Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits. Today, hundreds of tribes use the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act to help them recover their looted heritage from museums across the country. As senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Chip Colwell navigated firsthand the questions of how to weigh the religious freedom of Native Americans against the academic freedom of scientists and whether the emptying of museum shelves elevates human rights or destroys a common heritage. This book offers his personal account of the process of repatriation, following the trail of four objects as they were created, collected, and ultimately returned to their sources: a sculpture that is a living god, the scalp of a massacre victim, a ceremonial blanket, and a skeleton from a tribe considered by some to be extinct. These specific stories reveal a dramatic process that involves not merely obeying the law, but negotiating the blurry lines between identity and morality, spirituality and politics.
Full Product Details
Author: Chip Colwell ,
Chip Colwell
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Imprint: Tantor Audio
Edition: Library Edition
ISBN: 9798212255691
Publication Date: 30 August 2022
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Author Information
Chip Colwell is the founding editor-in-chief of SAPIENS and former senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He has written and edited twelve books, and his essays have appeared widely, including in the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Atlantic. His TED Talk about the return of sacred objects from museums to Native Americans has been viewed more than 1 million times. He is the recipient of two National Council on Public History Book Awards and the Gordon R. Willey Prize of the American Anthropological Association. Chip Colwell is the founding editor-in-chief of SAPIENS and former senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He has written and edited twelve books, and his essays have appeared widely, including in the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Atlantic. His TED Talk about the return of sacred objects from museums to Native Americans has been viewed more than 1 million times. He is the recipient of two National Council on Public History Book Awards and the Gordon R. Willey Prize of the American Anthropological Association.
