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porge_grewe's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.75
Fascinating, heartbreaking, thoughtful, hopeful - Strongly recommended if you have any interest in museums, communities, and our duty to the dead and the living.
hollyrebeccasmith's review against another edition
5.0
Where do the dead, the sacred, and the communal belong? With whom? What takes precedence, religious or academic freedom? These are only some of the questions that senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science Colwell explores in Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits.
The Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (also known as NAGPRA) created a path for the return of human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony, meaning items that were communally owned in 1990. Many feared that NAGPRA would lead to the death of museums, but Colwell argues that has been far from the case. By following the stories of four objects (a sculpture that is a living god, the scalp of a massacre victim, a ceremonial blanket, and a skeleton from an “extinct” tribe), Colwell masterfully, clearly, and thoughtfully considers all sides of the repatriation process from the births of the objects to their ultimate returns home.
Well-researched and, at times, personal, Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits is vital reading for anyone who wishes to learn about repatriation, the museum world, and the muddied boundaries of academic and moral responsibility.
The Native American Graves and Repatriation Act (also known as NAGPRA) created a path for the return of human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony, meaning items that were communally owned in 1990. Many feared that NAGPRA would lead to the death of museums, but Colwell argues that has been far from the case. By following the stories of four objects (a sculpture that is a living god, the scalp of a massacre victim, a ceremonial blanket, and a skeleton from an “extinct” tribe), Colwell masterfully, clearly, and thoughtfully considers all sides of the repatriation process from the births of the objects to their ultimate returns home.
Well-researched and, at times, personal, Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits is vital reading for anyone who wishes to learn about repatriation, the museum world, and the muddied boundaries of academic and moral responsibility.
caitsy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
I found it difficult to get through in one shot. A lot of tears were cried over the horrors described and I found it best to take breaks with this one, filling the gaps with lighter reads before pressing on
mkrabbe's review against another edition
3.0
Colwell, as a museum curator, is sometimes painfully sympathetic to museums that fight or chafe against repatriation. While the content was interesting and I learned a lot, I found myself annoyed with Colwell and the middle ground 'why can't we all just get along' stance he took. The conclusion especially bugged me when he discussed disagreements over history, as if museum curators who are not Native American have any claim to a history that is not theirs. BLEh. The case studies were gripping, the opinions not so much.
dracodinoraf's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0