Here's an art history / museum administration question, if anyone cares.

Should museums and universities return the bones, grave artefacts, material culture remains, and objects like ritual masks and objects taken from archaeological grave digs to the cultural descendants of the original owners? What about objects like this that were purchased?

Of course, now when such digs are begun, these questions are considered right from the beginning. But from digs decades ago, even a century ago, such issues were not considered and hence some museums own quite a number of objects that some indigenous peoples and aboriginal peoples have been lobbying to have returned to them. I can't remember the specifics, but I do believe there have been several instances of this, in Canada, the States, Britain, etc.

The cultural descendants say that the bones of their ancestors should be returned to them, so they can be re-buried with respect, not stored in boxes in the basements of natural history museums. The museum directors often say no, we need these for scientific study, to display for educational purposes, etc. Others say, even though you bought that ritual mask decades ago, it is not considered an "art object for display" by us, but a sacred object that should not be displayed in a white-walled gallery. That is disrespectful. We would like to buy it back to prevent its display. Here, the museums say no, we bought it fair and square, and we want to display it because we consider it an art object as well as a ritual one and it is educational.

What do you think?

i think the object should be returned to the cultural descendants. i mean you wouldnt want your grandparents displayed in a box no matter how educational it is. people can learn the same thing from pictures of the artifact as the actual artifact, and many of them can be recreated. those things are sacred to people.

edit: im a moron, sorry about my spelling....

The exhumed remains taken from grave digs should be returned if requested, I believe. We have as little right to do that as I do to go to my local cemetary and dig up a skull to use as decoration.

However, if the museum bought some artifact (and it wasn't stolen in the first place), I don't think they're under any real obligation to return it.

Mmm, I'll have to ditto Commie.

This was the last question I thought I'd be faced with, anyways...it's so random.

The artifacts like masks and trinkets are property, if these aboriginals owned them, then they are theirs. I am even fine with letting them keep the artifacts that they threw into the ground to never see again. As for the bodies...my personal belief is that the corpse is property of the descendants, however that's just me. However the preservation of a few artifacts would be most valuable to history, perhaps if they would let us buy a few directly, from the aboriginals to the museums, it would be fine. But not through middle men.

Personally science is now advanced enough for us to make copies of all of these items in almost perfect detail. The items should be returned if requested, after time is taken to copy in detail that which is held.

good question...touchy subject... I'm not sure where I stand

this opens a whole can of worms- should every egyptian mummy go back to egypt, every celtic bone go back to ireland, every roman pottery piece go to italy?
because people are campaigning to have those returned too.

im really not sure. They mean a lot to ancestors, especially the body remains, but they also have a huge eduvational value too

Well I think alot of the stuff should stay in the museums. Ofcourse depending on what they are. Let the aborignal/owners or what keep claim to them. But what does them taking said artifacts away and hiding them from the world really do. Nothin as far as I can see.
And seeing a picture/remake, just isnt the same as seeing some peice of history thats like 6000 years old. Its age is part of what makes it so interesting.