NAGPRA passed in 1990, but the pressure on anthropologists to collect Indigenous remains started much earlier. Around 1910 in British Columbia, First Nations already opposed the taking of skulls and grave goods. At AMNH, donor Morris K. Jesup's funding pressured fieldworkers to deliver remains or lose their jobs.
NAGPRA origins: early 20th-century pressure to collect Indigenous remains
Key facts
- NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) passed in 1990
- Around 1910 in British Columbia, anthropologists wrote letters documenting that First Nations opposed the taking of skulls and grave goods
- Curators at the American Museum of Natural History (funded by donor Morris Jessup) pressured field anthropologists to deliver remains or lose employment
- Young married anthropologists with dependents faced an impossible choice between local opposition and professional survival
Sources
Morris Ketchum Jesupen.wikipedia.org
Morris Ketchum Jesup (June 21, 1830 – January 22, 1908) was an American banker and philanthropist. He was the president of the American Museum of Natural ...
Morris Ketchum Jesup : a character sketchcaleb-cangelosi-437x.squarespace.com
Dr. Hall had passed away, and the task which he had so ardently anticipated was left, with many others, to be carried on by different hands.
Jesup, Morris K. (Morris Ketchum), 1830-1908 - AMNH Archivesdata.library.amnh.org
Correspondence relative to the formation and organization of the Department of Vertebrate Paleontology. Correspondence between Morris K. Jesup, Henry Fairfield ...
Morris K. Jesupjesuplibrary.org
An intimate friend of Morris K. Jesup, the recently elected President of the Chamber of Commerce, being asked to describe the distinguishing characteristics ...
Morris Ketchum Jesuplindahall.org
Jesup became the third president of the American Museum of Natural History ... Fortunately, Jesup was not a one-institution donor, and the ...
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