Repatriation and the generation of material culture

Abstract

The repatriation of Haida ancestral remains from museums to Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada, was accompanied by the generation of objects that, over time, have developed into a material culture of repatriation. Archaeologists (among others) have tended to approach events of repatriation as processes that affect their ability to research: either negatively through the removal of available data, or positively through improved relationships with source communities. I propose that the material culture of repatriation is worthy of attention in its own right. On Haida Gwaii, objects were created to honour repatriated ancestors, while another parallel group of objects were made to garner financial and moral support for repatriation efforts. The resulting body of material culture provides an entry into local values regarding the living's responsibility to the deceased, as well as the ways in which repatriation is being integrated within the history and collective memory of the Haida Nation. The confluence of formal and informal, enduring and fleeting, material culture presents an opportunity to expand archaeological, anthropological and local understandings of repatriation, ancestral commemoration and collective remembrance in Haida society.

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