And now:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (S.I.S.I.S.) writes:
TOURIST'S HAUL OF INUIT REMAINS TO BE RETURNED
National Post, December 7, 1998, by David Staples
[S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased
or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context.
It is provided for reference only.]
Human remains stolen from the Canadian Arctic by an amateur American
archaeologist will soon be back home at their King William Island grave
site. The man thought he was making off with an important historical
discovery, bones from the famed but ill-fated Franklin expedition of the
1840s. Instead, he'd robbed two Inuit graves.
"Human remains are expected to be treated with reverence and deference and
respect, and this individual, or any other individual who is visiting
Nunavut as a tourist, has no right to collect any material, and certainly
not to interfere with a human burial," says archaeologist Doug Stenton,
director of the Inuit Heritage Trust in Iqaluit on Baffin Island. "If
someone is buried, you don't interfere with that. I think most adults would
understand."
Explorers and scientists have long sought to solve the mystery of what
went wrong with the Franklin expedition. Sir John Franklin set out in 1845
in search of the Northwest Passage. After deserting their ice-locked ships,
Erebus and Terror, 105 survivors starved to death in 1848, most on King
William Island.
In 1995, the tourist, who has not been named by authorities, went hunting
for remains of the Franklin expedition on the rock-strewn island. There, he
came upon the human bones, says Kathy Zedde, program officer at Canadian
Heritage. He scooped up the bones and took them back to the United States.
To confirm his discovery, the tourist later sent off the bones to forensic
anthropologist Owen Beattie of the University of Alberta, a noted Franklin
researcher. In the '80s, Dr. Beattie discovered lead in the remains of
Franklin crew members and concluded lead poisoning undermined the health of
the expedition crews. But U of A scientists found no elevated lead levels
in the American tourist's find. Instead, they concluded the bones came from
two Inuk individuals, one possibly prehistoric, the other more recent.
Animal bones were also found. The U of A scientists also notified the RCMP,
who began to investigate, before turning the matter over to Canada Heritage
officials. They investigated the American tourist for the illegal export of
cultural property.
For such an offence, it's unlikely the American tourist would be
extradited, so it's up to American custom authorities to pursue the matter,
says David Walden, director of Moveable Cultural Property at Canadian
Heritage. "We got the remains back and that is our primary concern," Mr.
Walden says.
The FBI agent who investigated the case failed to respond to calls, so
it's not known if any charges will be laid in the United States.
The grave-robbing doesn't sit well with Michael Angottitauruq Sr., mayor
of Gjoa Haven, the main Inuk community on King William Island. "That's not
acceptable," Mr. Angottitauruq says. "It's not a good feeling, not a good
feeling at all."
In the high Arctic, bodies were traditionally wrapped in skins, then left
out on the land, Mr. Angottitauruq says. "We try to leave them exactly the
way they are. We don't touch them. They're not just dumped out there."
The bones are in storage at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
in Yellowknife. They might still be shipped to the United States if they're
needed as evidence. If not, Dr. Charles Arnold, the director of the centre,
says the RCMP has offered to return the bones to King William and plans to
do so this winter or spring.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed
a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty
P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2
EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html
SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous
sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send
"subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
