Synopsis
Describes the efforts of Native Americans to rebury ancestral human remains and grave offerings held by museums and historical societies, with particular emphasis on the Pawnees and their struggle to reclaim their dead.
Reviews
Grade 7 Up-The current and historical struggle by Native Americans to protect the graves of their ancestors is presented here in a work that is both lucid and compelling. The authors examine the genesis of the double standard in the treatment of Native American remains, as well as the moral and ethical problems that the legacy of this inequality brings to Americans today. The book covers Native American cultural beliefs, 19th-century "battlefield anthropology," and today's reburial movement, with a focus on the Pawnee tribe in particular. The writing is clear, concise, and interesting, and the text is illustrated with numerous full-color and black-and-white photographs. Rarely are the topics of history, ethics, and current events combined in such a readable format. This volume is a suitable resource for students of social studies, history, ethics, Native American, cross-cultural, and multicultural studies due to its high readability, excellent graphic and pictorial qualities, and discussion-sparking style and subject matter. All in all, an excellent examination of a complex topic.
M. Colleen McDougall, Kayenta Boarding School, AZ
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
First-American burial sites have been considered fair game for archaeologists and curiosity-seekers since the Mayflower; now two Pawnee activists, a lawyer and a historian, document the course and causes of this wrong and recent legal efforts to redress it. They focus on three successes: a bitter struggle with the Nebraska State Historical Society to recover over 400 Pawnee dead from museums; closing the ``Indian Burial Pit'' tourist attraction near Salina, Kansas; and negotiations paving the way for repatriation of the remains of more than 18,500 individuals held by federal agencies, most notably the Smithsonian. Though the authors seldom let their personal feelings show, their account of opposition arguments is not evenhanded and their stiff, impersonal prose sometimes makes heavy going; still, they discuss issues and events with obvious authority, draw on plenty of popular and scholarly sources for support, and make their cases systematically. By far the most complete consideration of this topic for young people to date. Numerous photos (of uneven usefulness and visual quality); endnotes; index. (Nonfiction. 12-18) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Gr. 7-10. Since the first contact between American Indians and Europeans, Indian graves have been plundered, most commonly under the guise of scientific study. Despite repeated efforts of American Indians to stop this practice, the U.S. government has only recently begun to order ancestral remains, mostly held by museums, to be returned to their respective tribes. Part one of this book describes Native American burial practices, the archaeological procedures that encouraged taking remains for study, and present-day efforts to remediate the situation. Part two recounts the struggles of the Pawnee tribe to reclaim remains of some 1,000 ancestors being held by the Nebraska State Historical Society. The clear, detailed text is enhanced with numerous photographs and drawings, including some of burial sites and practices, individuals involved in the controversy, historical Pawnee leaders, and archaeological digs. A solid work on a contemporary issue. Source notes appended. Karen Hutt
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