Emotion, Affective Practice, and the Taking of Indigenous Ancestral Remains

This chapter examines the emotions that have historically underlined and driven the collecting of Indigenous Ancestral Remains and argues that engaging with the emotional content of collecting and repatriation is integral to understanding both the impact of this history and the contemporary importance of repatriation. The ethical case for repatriation has been refuted by Science as being outweighed by the universal good of the preservation of remains in collections—a claim strongly rebutted by Indigenous peoples and their supporters. This stance is characteristic of a tendency to evade discussion of the colonial contexts of Ancestral Remains acquisition, or claims that this past has no relevance in deciding their future. There has been an unwillingness to reflect on what the archives of museums might disclose and what those archives might reveal about the emotions and ambitions through which the intellectual products of scientific research on Indigenous Ancestral Remains were created.