Research for Repatriation Practice

This chapter describes methods to locate and provenance Indigenous Ancestral Remains among the many museums and collections that hold them around the world. Its primary focus is information contained in published and archival sources, but it also briefly discusses scientific techniques. The chapter can be used by repatriation practitioners in (or working for) communities and also by museum staff engaged in repatriation. Community practitioners need to locate and provenance their Ancestral Remains in national and international collections. In order to facilitate repatriation, museum staff must also undertake provenance research and may also need to find out where an entire collection came from or where their museum sent remains to, whether as loans or exchanges. The importance of understanding the history of collections, collecting pathways, and collecting networks cannot be underestimated, nor can the effectiveness of rigorous historical research. Understanding this history helps to support successful repatriation practice and to avoid common pitfalls in repatriation processes.