Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch has responded to a report on the institution’s collection of human remains, which found that the majority had been gathered using unethical practices and without consent.
In a recent op-ed for the Washington Post, Bunch addressed how the Smithsonian accumulated its vast collection of brains and other body parts during the early 1900s.
Bunch’s apology on behalf of the institution comes after a Washington Post investigation. This found that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History currently holds at least 30,700 human bones and other body parts, including 255 brains.
The report also found that most of the remains were taken from Black and Indigenous people and other people of colour, and mostly without their consent. The majority were gathered under the direction of anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka.
Human body parts gathered without consent
Hrdlicka served as the head of the Smithsonian’s physical anthropology division from 1903 to 1941 when he “oversaw the acquisition of hundreds of human brains and thousands of other remains”, Bunch wrote.
The remains were taken from graveyards, battlefields, morgues and hospitals in more than 80 countries, according to the Washington Post’s investigation.
“It was abhorrent and dehumanizing work, and it was carried out under the Smithsonian’s name,” Bunch continued. “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.”
He added, “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.”
In his op-ed, Bunch said the institution has repatriated the remains of more than 5,000 people since the National Museum of the American Indian Act was passed in 1989.
“It was abhorrent and dehumanizing work”
“To date, we have focused on the repatriation of Native American remains to comply with federal law, but earlier this year, the Smithsonian established its human remains task force to develop an institutional policy that addresses the future of all human remains still held in our collections,” he continued.
“Our forthcoming policy will finally recognize these remains not as objects to be studied but as human beings to be honored,” wrote Bunch. “It is a long-overdue shift, and I regret that human bodies were ever treated with such disrespect at our institution.”
Last year, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art returned 29 Benin bronzes to Nigeria as part of the institution’s new ethical returns policy.
Also, the institution’s National Museum of Asian Art has partnered with the Yemeni government to display 77 looted artefacts from Yemen during the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Images courtesy of the Smithsonian, Hugh Talman and James Di Loreto
