Clearly, few doubts troubled the traffickers in human remains who thrived in the colonies early last century. One estimate has it that more than 2,000 Aborigines are represented by bones held in the United Kingdom and Europe. Dave Simmons, former ethnologist at the Auckland Museum, says 127 Maori heads are kept in museums worldwide, plus more in private collections. The head of Yagan, leader of a resistance movement based in the area now known as the Swan Valley near Perth, was especially prized. Today's headhunters are scouring museums and collections for remains to be returned to their homelands.
Some repatriations have less sinister histories.
The rush to repatriation worries some scientists who, while agreeing in principle, argue that to return remains before any scientific value is extracted may block a better understanding of Aborigines and other indigenous peoples. You've got to do the right thing. But most of the bones in museums are from unknown sources. It's important that they are reunited with their descendants. Now it's at our fingertips.