I'll be live-tweeting for this event from my account starting at 1 PM Pacific US time / 4 PM Eastern https://twitter.com/IndigArchs/status/1300950254863310848

Hey all! We are hearing @potatokitty acknowledge Indigenous communities whose unceded land she is presenting from. She is also explaining the goals of @IndigArchs which is a new group dedicated to #Indigenous archaeology.

Now we are hearing from Dr. Ora Marek-Martinez @docmarek who has introduced herself and her family's history in Navajo and then in English. She asks that we observe a moment of silence for the relations we have lost and those who seek justice.

@DocMarek: There has been a significant shift in the way Indigenous communities and archaeologists relate to one another since the passage of #NAGPRA (1990), but many institutions affiliated with #archaeology / #museums have yet to repatriate ancestors to descendant communities.

@DocMarek reminds us of the 1986 SAA Statement on the Treatment of Human Remains and how this has set the stage for ways the organization (and field more broadly) treats #Indigenous human and sovereign rights. This happens in spite of the progress & change in our scholarly lit.

Dr. Gonzalez @potatokitty sets the context for the webinar: we are in a moment where African American communities are leading calls to protect Black bodies. When SAA put out a statement on Juneteenth it reminded many of the synergy between Black and Indigenous rights movements.

Now Dr. Ayanna Flewellen @aflewellen is introducing moderator Dr. Sonya Atalay and panelists Dr. Michael Blakey, Shannon Martin, Dr. Dorothy Lippert ( @BelleSauvage), Dr. Rachel Watkins ( @RJWatkins3). Their accomplishments are far too extensive for me to type quickly!

Accessibility details: Attendees can utilize the written Q&A section to interact with panelists after they introduce their perspectives. There are live closed captions available in Zoom (please tell them if there is a problem). The video recording will be on vimeo soon after!

Dr. Sonya Atalay begins moderation by describing how many Indigenous ancestors and Black ancestors are estimated to be held in #museums. She asks the panelists for insights on why this is still the case. #repatriation #NAGPRA

Dr. Watkins comments that the way power is distributed in #archaeology has a significant role in the persistence of this practice, and in turning students away from studying #anthropology, and it seems particularly biological anthropology.

Dr. Blakey: For Black descendant communities, a main place where this imbalance is visible is Black historic cemeteries. [Dr. Blakey famously led the investigation at the African Burial Ground alongside Black stakeholder communities in NYC.]

Dr. Blakey and others have mentioned an active African American historic cemeteries bill. Here is a link to an explanation of the effort to establish an African American Burial Ground Network & fund at the @forheritage website: https://heritagecoalition.org/coalition-supports-senate-bill-to-safeguard-historic-african-american-burial-grounds/

Shannon Martin speaks about her experience at the Ziibiwing Center and her sense of solidarity and relief that Black and #Indigenous #archaeology scholars have come together to discuss this issue.

Dr. Lippert ( @BelleSauvage) describes how the teaching collections were built at Smithsonian museums (and many others), especially early on, and how hard it is to connect these people to their descendant communities because of the de-humanizing way they were treated

Dr. Atalay asks the panelists how we tackle the fact that the bodies of people held in archaeological & museum collections have been used to build, justify, and commemorate the history of eugenics movements. In many cases, this was done by archaeologists & anthropologists.

Dr. Blakey describes a number of collections of human remains and where they originated. For example, one collection originated from immigration into Ellis Island.

In contrast, the Cobb collection was assembled by a Black biological anthropologist "with the intent to get hold of the power to counter the eugenicists." (Blakey)

Blakey reminds us that these collections are both representations of eugenics and foundations of bioarchaeological sex and gender variation research. These people enabled us to do science and forensics. As he and Dr. Watkins said, the politics of these collections is very messy.

Watkins ( @rjwatkins3): It is worth it to consider how we can make communities aware of these anatomical collections, even though we know that we may not be able to match individuals to their relatives, and we know it may cause pain.

Martin reminds us of the tragic reality of Indigenous boarding schools, where numerous children passed away and their graves are often hidden or have yet to be found; "tribes are having to grapple with this situation and try to repatriate and return these children"

Dr. Atalay asks the panelists how we should move forward with educating people about the ubiquity and history of anatomical collections.

@BelleSauvage describes how many historical sites are beginning to acknowledge & tell the stories of slaves who ran the estate. She says we need to acknowledge all the facets of thinking and behavior that went into producing these collections just as those sites are trying to.

Dr. Lippert ( @bellesauvage) also describes teaching people about the mindset of folks who relocated remains of non-white people to museums. Often they believed that was where they "belonged" and where they would be "cared for"; we recognize problems with that now.

Dr. Blakey describes how hard it is to collaborate with communities to represent a fuller history at historical sites, and how often there are board members who are invested in the whiteness of what is presented there. This is difficult to overcome.

An example Blakey gives: Local authorities in Richmond, VA looked the other way while medical schools looted enslaved peoples' graves and used them for research purposes. Archaeologists found the mass burial they deposited and once again folks were invested in covering this up.

Recently a filmmaker presented the story and adapted some of the methodology from the African Burial Ground project to initiate #repatriation.

@BelleSauvage: Using what we have learned doing Native repatriations, I was able to navigate repatriation of Black peoples' remains in a way that respected the cultural traditions and comfort levels of the stakeholders.

@rjwatkins3: "I think it is important that #repatriation become a fundamental part of humanities and liberal arts education."

Dr. Atalay points out that there are specific educational organizations & frameworks we can work on to make sure that #repatriation is included.

Martin: "We have to get fierce, and we have to work together." Numerous tribes in Michigan protested together to pressure the University of Michigan, and at this stage the relationships with the University are fruitful and encouraging. They have exciting projects coming up!

Dr. Atalay asks: What can we do today? Tell us about your activism. Tell us what questions you ask.

Blakey: Pressure people to support the African American Burial Ground Network Act and find out how to get it out for a vote in the US Congress (note from me - check out @forheritage for info on how to do this)

@BelleSauvage: When somebody says "we don't know what we have", ask them what they do know and start narrowing down from there.

@rjwatkins3: Often times information about these collections is so deeply buried, it requires people at these institutions to trace back the ways they have been complicit. Before they can give us an accounting for their holdings they may have to confront their history.

Martin: We have also found that historical & archaeological societies have found ancestral remains, funerary objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. They may not be legally required to repatriate but many are open to doing so. I would encourage people to build relationships.

Martin: Through long-term community outreach, local residents have learned they can call the tribes when they find ancestral remains and objects.

Martin & Atalay note that many ancestral human remains and objects are held in places you would never expect: dental schools, zoos, private collections.

Blakey points out that, additionally, many of these human remains are stored for decades and never actually used for scientific purposes, so maybe we need to ask people "why are they there still?"

@BelleSauvage describes the variety of agreements her team makes with tribes who are eligible to receive repatriated remains and objects. #Repatriation is emotionally and financially and spiritually expensive, and so they work with tribes to pursue it when & how they are able.

Dr. Atalay is aware of suggestions in some academic programs that professors "order more human remains" for instruction in ways which perpetuate the problematic practices we are discussing here. What policies can we put in place to prevent this from happening?

Shannon Martin says the University of Michigan has worked with tribes to develop protocols for repatriation and consultation. She says they have openly shared these with anyone who would like an example to follow.

@rjwatkins3: There needs to be a policy of cataloguing everything that is held in the institution. There needs to be a shift in thinking about objects that have faded into the background of a space rather than recognized as material heritage removed from context.

Martin: Why do institutions want more human remains for study if most have never been properly cared for or studied? Their remains are often stored poorly and in a dehumanizing way.

Blakey: Ethically, we cannot release the names of people held in these collections, but we also want to find a way to make them available to families for repatriation.

Blakey: We need to make sure going forward that we insist on verified donations of human remains. Even when we do, we know that people in great poverty are likely to give consent in a different way than wealthier people would in donating their bodies to science.

Martin: When it comes to Indigenous people, the funding is inadequate to facilitate the repatriation of all the people who are held in collections right now. Advocate for increased appropriation to the national #NAGPRA office.

Atalay brings up questions about the ethics of 3d scans and casts of human remains. @BelleSauvage says her team does not scan or cast human remains unless the tribe specifically requests they do it on their behalf during/after the repatriation process.

Blakey: What stands out to me is that we would only need a small sample of what is in collections to do scientific research. The main problem is the lack of a decent scientific question to pursue.

Blakey quotes #Indigenous activist Suzanne Harjo and her frustration with the justifications for Indigenous peoples' remains being held in museums. Are these collections are really teaching people anything, or if they could have just listened to Indigenous people?

@rjwatkins3 asks individuals to reflect on whether their motivation to 3d scan human remains is rooted in an impulse to hoard or if they have a use in mind, before they do it