Despite decades of opposition, the university still holds over 9,000 Native remains — a source of grief for tribes.
Perhaps more impactful, there may be financial enticements:reported that Chicago’s Field Museum accepted a $400,000 grant to preserve its collection, which was also obtained by grave desecration. Platt goes further, claiming that the museum’s thousands of bodies are of minimal scientific value, perhaps none at all. Rather, he likens the Hearst to a trophy room — or a hoarder’s residence.
Beck, who has an anthropology degree, is also dubious: “I want to give people the benefit of the doubt … but I don’t know how an anthropology department could convince [the administration] there is so much value here that they’ve got to do everything in their power to keep it.”, but the collection’s scientific utility is unclear.
Beck said as much, emphasizing that “respect for your ancestors and elders [is] integral in keeping families and people together.” When repatriation does happen, as she described, “There isPeople will come out to see the remains being reburied, and go through the pain of seeing it happen and relive it in their mind. But they know that it ends on a good note. And that’s the end goal.
“It’s a hard thing for Indian people to have to deal with,” Beck sighs. At 78, she is only now winding down her participation in the cause. “It’s been such long going, and so dehumanizing, to deal with this power structure. I’ve heard [Berkeley staff] say, ‘We know more about you people than you do!’ How insulting is that!”
It’s hard to fathom; the contempt and the loss are unimaginable. But there are hopes that the gathering momentum of repatriation might mean that resolution is not far off. UCLA’s near-total return of remains to relatives is proof of feasibility. Previously impossible identifications can now be made by DNA analysis, and the potential, someday, for “a reckoning,” as Platt put it, is growing.
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