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24.10.2017 Feature Article

The State Of Saxony, Germany, Leads The Way By Returning Human Remains To The Country Of Origin, Hawaii

The State Of Saxony, Germany, Leads The Way By Returning Human Remains To The Country Of Origin, Hawaii
24.10.2017 LISTEN

Saxony has quite correctly returned human remains to their country of origin as reported below. Will other German States and institutions follow this lead which is in accordance with the resolutions of United Nations, UNESCO and ICOM ?

The real question is why it took so long and why are there still institutions, such as the Prussian Cultural Foundation, that are delaying or refusing to return African human remains to their country of origin?

After studying this issue for a while, we have come to the conclusion that there is no other way one can handle this matter other than return the remains to their country of origin so that a fit and proper burial can be given to those who have ended in this way. For their souls really to rest in peace, they must be buried in accordance with the rites and procedures of their community. Is this complicated to understand? Why are Western museums so resistant to the idea of return of human remains? Will other institutions in Germany, including the Prussian Cultural Foundation wake up to this development?

We have expressed in detail our position on human remains in several articles:

Kwame Opoku: Return Of Stolen Skulls By Germany To Namibia ...

www.africavenir.org/nc/news-details/article/kwame-opoku...of.../print.html

How Long Must Africans Still Wait to Be Able To Bury Their Dead ...

https://www.modernghana.com/.../how-long-must-africans-still-wait-to-be-able-to-bur.

The return of Namibian Skulls by Germany - Elginism

www.elginism.com/similar-cases/the-return-of-namibian-skulls-by-germany/.../1838

Bones Do Not Die: Germans To Return Namibian Skulls.

https://www.modernghana.com/.../bones-do-not-die-germans-to-return-namibian-skul..

Will Namibian bones haunt Germans forever? | Pambazuka News

https://www.pambazuka.org/governance/will-namibian-bones-haunt-germans-forever

Pressure On Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation And Humboldt ...

https://www.modernghana.com/.../pressure-on-prussian-cultural-heritage-foundation-.

Kwame Opoku.
The Free State of Saxony returns human remains to Hawai'i

(Sächsischen Staatsministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kunst (SMWK) / Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) Dresden, 23 October 2017 – Press Release 65/2017)

Today, for the first time in its history, the Free State of Saxony has returned human remains to representatives of the remains' country of origin. The remains were stolen from burial caves in Hawai'i between 1896 and 1902 and were sold directly to the Museum of Ethnology in Dresden and Arthur Baessler, a patron of the museum. Between 1896 and 1904, they became part of the anthropological collection of the Museum of Ethnology in Dresden, which, since 2010, belongs to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections).

When these human remains were removed from their final resting place for the collection one hundred years ago, the deceased were transformed into objects. Now the museum itself is reversing the process of dehumanization; i.e., these remains are being rehumanized by not only being designated as objects with inventory numbers but as deceased individuals.

The rehumanization of these human remains, combined with an intensive provenance research and a close, trustworthy collaboration of the SKD with the representatives of the Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna 'O Hawai'i Nei - Group caring for the ancestors of Hawai'i and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs made today's return possible. The importance of this restitution for the Hawaiians was also shown by the fact that high-ranking representatives of Hawaiian organizations as well as the Economic Officer of the Embassy of the United States, Robert Folley, came to Dresden for the ceremony in the Japanisches Palais. The State Minister of Science and Art, Eva-Maria Stange, the Director-General of the Dresden State Art Collections, Marion Ackermann and the Director of the three ethnographic museums in the network of SKD, Nanette Snoep, took part in the ceremony.

Eva-Maria Stange, Minister of State for Science and Art of the Free State of Saxony: "In Saxony, we have agreed that 'human remains', however they may have come to us, will be returned to those ethnic groups from which they originate. Before the return, the history of how the remains were collected has to be illustrated clearly and has to be accompanied by a careful legal process. With the return of human remains to Hawai'i, which takes place today, an inglorious chapter closes for the Free State of Saxony. At the same time a new page is opened in dealing with human remains in museums: with respect and acknowledgment and appreciation of cultural and religious traditions the human bones, hitherto regarded as 'objects', are rehumanized, and they retain the intrinsic individuality and human dignity. "

Marion Ackermann, Director-General of the Dresden State Art Collections, places today's return within the current discussion and explains: "Ethnological museums worldwide are increasingly becoming the focal point of critical discussions. The debate on questions of the provenance of "ethnographic objects" acquired or stolen in the colonial context, as well as the restitution of human remains to the descendants of the deceased, has been discussed to extreme lengths.

This debate, however, often stagnates at the level of political positioning and lacks productive consequences. Restitution in the field of ethnological museums is often seen as an individual and final act, as an end in itself that could even threaten the survival of the collections and the research of a museum. On the contrary, we should regard it as an opportunity when human remains are returned back to their cultural context. This opens doors for cooperation, joint research projects and cultural cooperation."

Nanette Snoep, Director of the Museum of Ethnology Dresden, the Grassi Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig, and the Museum of Ethnology in Herrnhut: "Today we have returned the bones of ancestors to Hawai'i. They had a family, and their life story made them victims in the name of scientific research, colonialism and an unequal balance of power. These deceased were brought to Europe against the will of the societies where they originated. The void created by this has left painful and irreparable gaps: emotional, religious, spiritual, and historical. The mourning of the survivors has continued for generations. Restitution is a way for healing and justice. For the Iwi Kupuna, the bones of the ancestors, their journey home begins at last. "

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