“It was abhorrent and dehumanizing work, and it was carried out under the Smithsonian’s name,” wrote the Smithsonian Institution secretary. Image: Juliaquinn12, via Wikimedia Commons
Last week, an investigation revealed that the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum was in possession of at least 30,700 human body parts, most of which were collected from Black and Indigenous people in the early 20th century.
In response to the investigation, which was published by the Washington Post, Smithsonian Institution secretary Lonnie G. Bunch published an op-ed in the same publication addressing the collection and the unethical means by which it was amassed.
“It was abhorrent and dehumanizing work, and it was carried out under the Smithsonian’s name,” wrote Bunch.
Under the direction of anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka, the remains, including bones, teeth, brains and other organs were collected from hospitals, morgues, graveyards and battlefields, largely without the consent of the individuals, their families or communities.
Hrdlicka’s mission was overtly racially-motivated – Hrdlicka was a member of the American Eugenics Society and spoke openly about his theories of White superiority.
Though Hrdlicka’s beliefs theories have long been discredited, the remains he gathered in pursuit of this goal are still held in the possession of the Smithsonian.
“As secretary of the Smithsonian, I condemn these past actions and apologize for the pain caused by Hrdlicka and others at the institution who acted unethically in the name of science, regardless of the era in which their actions occurred,” said Bunch in the recently-published op-ed.
“I recognize, too, that the Smithsonian is responsible both for the original work of Hrdlicka and others who subscribed to his beliefs, and for the failure to return the remains he collected to descendant communities in the decades since.”
While the Smithsonian has repatriated the remains of more than 5,000 people, only four of at least 255 brains in their collection have been returned to the communities from which they were stolen.
However, a policy introduced last year and a task force announced in April hope to change this and facilitate the safe and careful return of the remains to the affected communities, Bunch says.
“Our forthcoming policy will finally recognize these remains not as objects to be studied but as human beings to be honoured.”
“It is a long-overdue shift, and I regret that human bodies were ever treated with such disrespect at our institution.”
