From the San Francisco Call, August 23, 1906
(click to see full-sized image)
(click to see full-sized image)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A Time Honored Tradition
From The San Francisco Chronicle August 24, 1906
From the Daily Californian, August 23rd, 1906
(click to see a larger version of the images)
(click to see a larger version of the images)
This event, Kroeber later refers to as the "Ukiah incident." And as far as Wheeler saying it was settled, it wasn't--it did not get resolved until December, and not until the Department of Anthropology paid to have the human remains re-buried.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Glen Cove
The Glen Cove Shellmound was paved over long ago and topped by homes
and condos overlooking the 15-acre Glen Cove Waterfront Park. Many
ancestral bones were removed from a burial site in the park in the 1900s
and were last donated to UC Berkeley in 1952, said Judson King, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology interim director.
[...]
King said the Hearst Museum has not received a claim for the
repatriation of remains taken from the Glen Cove burial grounds,
which come from the Ohlone/Costanoans. They are one of more than 50
unrecognized tribes in California, many of which have been displaced
from highly urbanized or disputed regions.
The Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act “says they
only can be returned to recognized tribes. If there is no such affiliation,
then we can’t do it unless they are able to gain an exception from the national
NAGPRA which takes a really large case,” King said.
read the entire article at:
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/southwest/79641372.html
and condos overlooking the 15-acre Glen Cove Waterfront Park. Many
ancestral bones were removed from a burial site in the park in the 1900s
and were last donated to UC Berkeley in 1952, said Judson King, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology interim director.
[...]
King said the Hearst Museum has not received a claim for the
repatriation of remains taken from the Glen Cove burial grounds,
which come from the Ohlone/Costanoans. They are one of more than 50
unrecognized tribes in California, many of which have been displaced
from highly urbanized or disputed regions.
The Native Graves Protection and Repatriation Act “says they
only can be returned to recognized tribes. If there is no such affiliation,
then we can’t do it unless they are able to gain an exception from the national
NAGPRA which takes a really large case,” King said.
read the entire article at:
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/southwest/79641372.html
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Hearst Museum in the news
The 108-year-old museum,
with its 3.8 million-piece collection, is like a candy store for
Salvador, a UC Berkeley graduate who took over the long-vacant
directorship last month. But if Salvador is ready to indulge her sweet
tooth, she may need to take a dose of castor oil as well.
University
and museum leaders continue to debate with Native American groups over
thousands of human remains held by the Hearst. Advocacy groups say the
university has not yet returned remains to the tribes.
The museum
also is testing other remains to determine whether they are those of
Japanese citizens killed during World War II. If so, critics assert, it
is likely the remains are being held illegally.
In New Mexico,
where Salvador worked for 26 years, nearly every Native American tribe
was federally recognized, so federal laws dealing with the repatriation
of human remains were more clear-cut, she said. In California, most
tribes are not federally recognized, so the laws do not guarantee the
return of their remains.
with its 3.8 million-piece collection, is like a candy store for
Salvador, a UC Berkeley graduate who took over the long-vacant
directorship last month. But if Salvador is ready to indulge her sweet
tooth, she may need to take a dose of castor oil as well.
University
and museum leaders continue to debate with Native American groups over
thousands of human remains held by the Hearst. Advocacy groups say the
university has not yet returned remains to the tribes.
The museum
also is testing other remains to determine whether they are those of
Japanese citizens killed during World War II. If so, critics assert, it
is likely the remains are being held illegally.
In New Mexico,
where Salvador worked for 26 years, nearly every Native American tribe
was federally recognized, so federal laws dealing with the repatriation
of human remains were more clear-cut, she said. In California, most
tribes are not federally recognized, so the laws do not guarantee the
return of their remains.
Rest at
http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_13996224?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com
Sunday, December 6, 2009
December protest
Drumbeat sounds outside UC museum for return of human remains
By Doug OakleyBerkeley Voice
Every time her heart beats, 61-year-old Jun Yasuda thumps her drum in front of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC Berkeley.
Yasuda, a Buddhist nun from Albany, N.Y., started a four-day hunger strike Tuesday as she prays for the return of some 11,000 human remains from all over the world that are housed at the museum.
Joining her this week are people like Wounded Knee, a Miwok Indian from Vallejo and Mike Raccoon eyes, a Cherokee who lives in Richmond.
They all want the museum to give its remains back to the earth.
rest at http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_13902776
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Keeping abreast of the UM situation
Monday, October 19, 2009
Univ. of Michigan and the Culturally Unidentifiable
Here is what the University of Michigan says--
U-M committee will advise about the transfer of culturally unidentifiable human remains
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—University of Michigan Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest has announced formation of a new advisory committee on culturally unidentifiable human remains (CUHR).
The group will advise Forrest on issues related to requests U-M receives from Native American tribes for the transfer of CUHR and funerary objects from the Museum of Anthropology. He made the announcement at the Board of Regents meeting in Flint today.
"I appreciate the willingness of these distinguished individuals, who represent a variety of academic backgrounds, to bring their broad experience and scholarly perspectives to this sensitive and complex issue," Forrest said.
The group is called the Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains under NAGPRA. NAGPRA—the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act—provides a mandatory process for returning culturally affiliated human remains and associated funerary objects to individuals and groups that have standing under the law and have requested such return.
rest at http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=7364
#################################
The response from the tribes in Michigan can be found at:
http://www.macpra.org/assets/Consensus_Statement.pdf
#################################
And newspaper coverage:
DETROIT - Facing criticism for still holding the remains of about 1,400 Native Americans in its archaeological collection, the University of Michigan will be reviewing its policies on how to properly deal with Indian bones and artifacts.
A committee charged with looking at the legal, ethical and scientific concerns involved will meet for the first time next week and "will hear all sides of the story," said Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at the Ann Arbor school.
"We want to have a very balanced approach," he said Friday. "We are actively seeking to understand all the aspects of the problem."
At issue is the conflicting interests of researchers and museums in studying and teaching about earlier human cultures and that of native peoples to have their religions and ancestral remains respected.
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act passed by Congress in 1990, federally supported institutions must catalog the remains and burial items they hold and return them, when requested, to groups that have a "cultural affiliation" to them.
The issue in the Michigan case is remains which the school says have no clear affiliation to present-day tribes. Forrest said the law compels the school to retain such remains until the government issues clearer guidelines or it gets specific clearance from U.S. Interior Department.
Forrest said the goal of the committee -- 10 professors and one graduate student -- is to properly balance Indian rights and research goals while awaiting new federal guidelines.
rest at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-university-indian,0,4039354.story
##
We wish MACPRA well in its battle for justice!
U-M committee will advise about the transfer of culturally unidentifiable human remains
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—University of Michigan Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest has announced formation of a new advisory committee on culturally unidentifiable human remains (CUHR).
The group will advise Forrest on issues related to requests U-M receives from Native American tribes for the transfer of CUHR and funerary objects from the Museum of Anthropology. He made the announcement at the Board of Regents meeting in Flint today.
"I appreciate the willingness of these distinguished individuals, who represent a variety of academic backgrounds, to bring their broad experience and scholarly perspectives to this sensitive and complex issue," Forrest said.
The group is called the Advisory Committee on Culturally Unidentifiable Human Remains under NAGPRA. NAGPRA—the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act—provides a mandatory process for returning culturally affiliated human remains and associated funerary objects to individuals and groups that have standing under the law and have requested such return.
rest at http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=7364
#################################
The response from the tribes in Michigan can be found at:
http://www.macpra.org/assets/Consensus_Statement.pdf
#################################
And newspaper coverage:
DETROIT - Facing criticism for still holding the remains of about 1,400 Native Americans in its archaeological collection, the University of Michigan will be reviewing its policies on how to properly deal with Indian bones and artifacts.
A committee charged with looking at the legal, ethical and scientific concerns involved will meet for the first time next week and "will hear all sides of the story," said Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at the Ann Arbor school.
"We want to have a very balanced approach," he said Friday. "We are actively seeking to understand all the aspects of the problem."
At issue is the conflicting interests of researchers and museums in studying and teaching about earlier human cultures and that of native peoples to have their religions and ancestral remains respected.
Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act passed by Congress in 1990, federally supported institutions must catalog the remains and burial items they hold and return them, when requested, to groups that have a "cultural affiliation" to them.
The issue in the Michigan case is remains which the school says have no clear affiliation to present-day tribes. Forrest said the law compels the school to retain such remains until the government issues clearer guidelines or it gets specific clearance from U.S. Interior Department.
Forrest said the goal of the committee -- 10 professors and one graduate student -- is to properly balance Indian rights and research goals while awaiting new federal guidelines.
rest at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-university-indian,0,4039354.story
##
We wish MACPRA well in its battle for justice!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Anthony Garcia speaks
From the recent NAGPRA meeting in Seattle
(see http://www.nps.gov/history/nagpra/REVIEW/meetings/Vol2_052309_Seattle_WA.pdf )
When questioned by Dr. Sonya Atalay on the
large number of culturally unidentifiable remains--
And later when questioned by Dan Monroe on the changes to the culturally
unidentifiable inventories--
Hmm...interesting after his earlier testimony to the NAGPRA Review board, that most tribes weren't concerned about having their human remains repatriated. We also wonder how large the effort is on re-doing all those hastily done inventories. Is it a team of 5, 10 or 20 people? What are their
credentials and how is the Hearst approaching these hastily done inventories? (And really cynical minds want to know why UCB did any of their inventories in haste given all the extensions they were granted in the 1990s?)
And really cycnical minds want to know how it will all play with the UCOP Committee, particularly with Prof. Bob Bettinger and Prof. Phil Wilkie.
(see http://www.nps.gov/history/nagpra/REVIEW/meetings/Vol2_052309_Seattle_WA.pdf )
When questioned by Dr. Sonya Atalay on the
large number of culturally unidentifiable remains--
ANTHONY GARCIA: I promise the next time I come
before the meeting I hope to have even new
information as to how we go into this direction
because I know this is the most sensitive area we
have. We have a very large number and it’s – we
have learned – we are learning that we may have
hastily made those determinations and we’re trying
to correct that.
And later when questioned by Dan Monroe on the changes to the culturally
unidentifiable inventories--
ANTHONY GARCIA: Actually two-fold, yes. Tribes
are especially the ones who are coming forth asking
that to be changed. They’re making special
requests. Some don’t understand it enough and want
to sit down and they explain it out and we determine
this is what they’re trying to do, and we work with
them quite often that way. We are ourselves going
after areas, very large areas that we believed were
identified as culturally unidentifiable and realized
that, oh no, this is quite wrong and it was in haste
in the inventories and we’re right now working – we
have archaeologists and other scientists working
right now on this to change one very large area
which we hope to report in some future months that
this has been completely turned around. It won’t be
all – it won’t be all changed to culturally
affiliated. There still will be some that will be
unidentifiable but it won’t be anything like it was
reported originally.
Hmm...interesting after his earlier testimony to the NAGPRA Review board, that most tribes weren't concerned about having their human remains repatriated. We also wonder how large the effort is on re-doing all those hastily done inventories. Is it a team of 5, 10 or 20 people? What are their
credentials and how is the Hearst approaching these hastily done inventories? (And really cynical minds want to know why UCB did any of their inventories in haste given all the extensions they were granted in the 1990s?)
And really cycnical minds want to know how it will all play with the UCOP Committee, particularly with Prof. Bob Bettinger and Prof. Phil Wilkie.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Collection Ethics at the Hearst, Part II
"I hope that the bones in Berkeley will be returned to Japan so that they can rest in peace, joining with their fellow victims at Chidorigafuchi," Taira said. "I do not understand why they have to have been humiliated like that as subject of research for such a long time. It certainly lacks respect to the dead."
rest at http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64313
rest at http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=64313
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Collection Ethics at the Hearst, Part I
#######
August 16, 2009
Japanese war dead skulls at UC museum
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
The skulls and bones of Japanese war dead from World War II's Battle of Saipan are being kept at UC Berkeley in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims, The Chronicle has learned.
The remains of several Japanese soldiers or civilians removed from the island of Saipan in 1945 by a Navy doctor are housed on storage shelves maintained by the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the UC Berkeley campus, museum officials have confirmed.
The admission has sparked the fury of international law experts and anthropologists, who say the university has a legal and ethical duty to return the remains to Japan.
Three sets of skeletal remains with skulls, and various bones of three additional Japanese war dead without skulls, are stored in wooden containers in vaults beneath the Hearst Gymnasium swimming pool.
Read more at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/16/MNPK195PD6.DTL#ixzz0Oh2c7hP5
########
August 19, 2009
State lawmakers tell UC: Return war dead bones
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
State lawmakers have called upon the University of California to immediately return to Japan the skulls and bones of Japanese war victims from World War II's Battle of Saipan that are being stored in an anthropology museum on the UC Berkeley campus.
They also asked UC officials to issue a formal apology to the Japanese government for not only keeping the Saipan remains in the museum's vast collection of skulls and bones, but also for using the remains in scientific research.
Read more:
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/18/MN2J19A0I4.DTL#ixzz0Oh27rLG1 ">
########
Also check out--
href="http://pahma.berkeley.edu/delphi/modules/browser/details.php?onum=12-11061 ">
August 16, 2009
Japanese war dead skulls at UC museum
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
The skulls and bones of Japanese war dead from World War II's Battle of Saipan are being kept at UC Berkeley in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions for the protection of war victims, The Chronicle has learned.
The remains of several Japanese soldiers or civilians removed from the island of Saipan in 1945 by a Navy doctor are housed on storage shelves maintained by the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the UC Berkeley campus, museum officials have confirmed.
The admission has sparked the fury of international law experts and anthropologists, who say the university has a legal and ethical duty to return the remains to Japan.
Three sets of skeletal remains with skulls, and various bones of three additional Japanese war dead without skulls, are stored in wooden containers in vaults beneath the Hearst Gymnasium swimming pool.
Read more at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/16/MNPK195PD6.DTL#ixzz0Oh2c7hP5
########
August 19, 2009
State lawmakers tell UC: Return war dead bones
Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer
State lawmakers have called upon the University of California to immediately return to Japan the skulls and bones of Japanese war victims from World War II's Battle of Saipan that are being stored in an anthropology museum on the UC Berkeley campus.
They also asked UC officials to issue a formal apology to the Japanese government for not only keeping the Saipan remains in the museum's vast collection of skulls and bones, but also for using the remains in scientific research.
Read more:
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/18/MN2J19A0I4.DTL#ixzz0Oh27rLG1 ">
########
Also check out--
href="http://pahma.berkeley.edu/delphi/modules/browser/details.php?onum=12-11061 ">
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