Human Remains

Human Remains

Human remains is a very controversial topic in the world of science but to be more specific in the world of Anthropology. What are exactly human remains? Well human remains is described as; “The physical remains of the body of a person of Native American ancestry/ The term does not include remains or portions of remains that may reasonably be determined to have been freely given or naturally shed by the individual from whose body they were obtained, such as hair made into ropes or nets/ For the purposes of determining cultural affiliation, human remains incorporated into a funerary object, sacred object, or object of cultural patrimony must be considered as part of that item” (Basham). So should human remains be objects in a museum or should they be given a right to be claim by there ancestors?

We feel that human remains should have the right to be claim by their ancestors, so they can decide what is best for them. Indigenous people feel as if they are being stolen of their heritage, therefore; “Indigenous people from all parts of the world have campaign for the right to determine the future of the remains of their ancestors…so that their ancestors can be laid to rest and their spirits release through appropriate rituals” (Hubert). Being that it is their ancestors they should have a what to say for their ancestors bodies; instead they have no say and get exploded.

In the other hand many anthropologists believe that human remains are good for science. According to Besterman “…scientific research of human remains is important/ it can deepen our understanding of human origins and ancient patterns of disease” (Besterman). This quote basically says that with human remains scientists can develop a deeper understanding of humans and with a deeper understanding of humans scientist can improve human life but that is only a painful sacrifice for the indigenous people.

In conclusion what the best alternative that science can come up with in which both sides can come out winning is that they make copies of the bones and the return them to the indigenous people. This is far from reality but it is a thought. Both sides are going to continue fighting and claim that they are right but only time will reveal if the effort to better understand our selves will win or the indigenous believe our ancestors