Elizabeth Weiss

{{Science}}

'''Elizabeth Weiss''' is a physical [[anthropologist]] (and specifically a specialist in human remains). From tenure in 2004 until 2021 she had a conventional career as a professor at San José State University in [[California]].<ref>[https://www.sjsu.edu/anthropology/about-us/people/emeritus/weiss.php Elizabeth Weiss] ''San José State University''.</ref> Beginning in 2021 she came to public attention for complaining about an "alliance between [[Native American]] tribes and [[woke]] anthropologists" <ref>[https://archive.ph/18Dp1#selection-367.3-367.11 Burying History] by Elizabeth Weiss (May 29, 2024) ''Aporia Magazine'' (archived from 20 Jun 2024 19:38:22 UTC).</ref> and asking "Has [[Creationism]] Crept Back into [[Archaeology]]?"<ref>[https://www.science.org/content/article/archaeology-society-hosted-talk-against-returning-indigenous-remains-some-want-new An archaeology society hosted a talk against returning Indigenous remains. Some want a new society] by Lizzie Wade (April 19, 2020) ''Science Insider''.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20240815194418/https://religionandpolitics.org/2021/09/08/why-creationism-appears-in-debates-about-scientific-racism/ Why Creationism Appears in Debates About Scientific Racism] by Adam R. Shapiro (September 8, 2021) ''Religion & Politics'' (archived August 15, 2024).</ref> Specifically, she argued that anthropologists were too respectful of indigenous [[Creation myths|creation stories]], and too willing to hand over human remains to people who might be their descendants.<ref>[https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/02/15/anthropologist-says-shes-being-punished-views-bones Much More Than Bones] by Colleen Flaherty (February 14, 2022) ''Inside Higher Ed''.</ref> She took a fellowship with the Heterodox Academy in New York City in 2023/4,<ref>[https://heterodoxacademy.org/authors/elizabeth-weiss/ Elizabeth Weiss] ''Heterodox Academy''.</ref> and early retirement from her university in 2024, though she remains an emeritus professor there. Afterwards she published a book and went on a media tour to say that she felt persecuted.<ref>[https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2025/02/12/anthropology-in-crisis-elizabeth-weiss-faces-the-challenges-of-a-politicized-discipline/ Anthropology in Crisis: Elizabeth Weiss Faces the Challenges of a Politicized Discipline] by Leonardo Orlando (February 12, 2025) ''Minding the Campus''.</ref> By June 2024 she was also blaming [[trans]] people for [[Cancel culture|cancelling]] her.<ref>[https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/us-news/i-was-canceled-for-saying-skeletons-are-male-or-female-prof/ https://nypost.com/2024/06/26/us-news/i-was-canceled-for-saying-skeletons-are-male-or-female-prof/] by John Mac Ghlionn (June 26, 2024, 7:00 a.m. ET) ''New York Post''.</ref> In 2025 she contributed to ''The War on Science: Thirty-Nine Renowned Scientists and Scholars Speak Out'' by [[Lawrence Krauss]]. Those 'renowned scholars' include [[Niall Ferguson]] and [[Intellectual Dark Web]] members [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Jordan Peterson]], and [[Steven Pinker]].

==Context==
It is important to know that many collections of indigenous human remains were acquired by grave robbing or simply collecting skulls after government troops or [[Vigilante|vigilantes]] had killed some indigenes.<ref>[https://www.propublica.org/article/berkeley-professor-taught-suspected-native-american-remains-repatriation A Top UC Berkeley Professor Taught With Remains That May Include Dozens of Native Americans] by Mary Hudetz & Graham Lee Brewer (March 5, 2023, 8 a.m. EST) ''ProPublica''.</ref> Many were collected by people with explicit agendas to show the inferiority of indigenous peoples or show human difference. The Smithsonian kept the brain of a Yana Native American man called Ishi despite strong indications that he had not wanted to be dissected, let alone stored in a jar.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2023/smithsonian-staff-human-remains-repatriation/ Former Employees Say Smithsonian Resisted Action on Human Remains] by Nicole Dungca & Claire Healy (Dec. 15 at 6:00 a.m.) ''The Washington Post''.</ref><ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi</ref> The skull of a Six Nations man was found in a depot in Germany where it had been donated by a visiting scholar and forgotten.<ref>See {{wplang|de|Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte}} (German language).</ref> Indigenous people have many reasons to be suspicious of doctors or anthropologists who want the remains of someone who might be their ancestor. Institutions in California have retained indigenous remains for decades after they were ordered to return them.<ref>[https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/berkeley-apologises-retaining-indigenous-remains Berkeley apologises for retaining indigenous remains. Leading US public institution found by news investigation to still hold bones of 9,000 people, most in nation, more than three decades after federal ban] by Paul Basken (March 9, 2023) ''Times Higher Education''.</ref> Scientific and [[Pseudoscience|'scientific']] studies of human remains, whether [[phrenology]] or [[DNA]], have often been used to argue that the people in an area when Europeans arrived had migrated there sometime in the past so were [[Whataboutism|not really the original land owners]]. So, many indigenous people focus on getting anyone who might be their ancestor out of a museum and into a respectful burial, and don't have a lot of patience for quibbling or stalling. Nowadays, many physical anthropologists focus on building better relations with indigenous peoples, which can include listening to their stories about why they want their ancestors home and not in a cardboard box in another country.<ref>Siân Halcrow et al., [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/1C3508D83603FDDE3237B572E1B32FC8/S0940739121000229a.pdf/moving_beyond_weiss_and_springers_repatriation_and_erasing_the_past_indigenous_values_relationships_and_research.pdf "Moving beyond Weiss and Springer’s Repatriation and Erasing the Past: Indigenous values, relationships, and research,"] ''International Journal of Cultural Property'' (2021), 28: 211–220 doi:10.1017/S0940739121000229 especially page 212 {{quotebox|Many archaeologists are increasingly placing ethics at the forefront of our practice, with growing emphasis on the importance of Indigenous consultation and research partnership. Although we acknowledge that there is still an epistemological gap between Western scientific and Indigenous or Native American perspectives, we feel encouraged that this gap is increasingly being bridged by collaborative work.}}</ref>

Nazi doctor {{wpl|August Hirt}} saved time by collecting the skeletons of people sentenced to death camps. Like many Nazi atrocities, this was not so different from things done by the Anglo-Saxon powers, just bigger and more blatant. Harvard's Peabody Museum contained a collection of hair collected from Native American students who were forced to attend residential schools in the United States, where many of them were physically and sexually abused or died of neglect and where teachers tried to erase their cultures and languages.<ref>Jasmine Liu, [https://hyperallergic.com/779431/harvard-admits-owning-hair-samples-of-700-native-american-students/ "Harvard Admits Owning Hair Samples of 700 Native American Students,"] ''Hyperallergic'', November 13, 2022</ref> Students, like Marine Corps recruits, had their hair cut short to humble them and show them that they no longer had the right to choose how they looked. Just asking whether the hair has scientific value is not the only way to think about this collection!

Current laws and policies about the custody of human remains are a response to a long period in which anthropologists felt entitled to any human remains outside a Christian cemetery. Many anthropologists abused that power, so lawmakers and judges are more likely to side with indigenous people than in the past. Many anthropologists and archaeologists today are looking for ways to show remorse for the actions of their professional mentors, which can include saying "yes" when the descendants of the people they study ask them for something. Giving speeches about [[atheism]] and [[materialism]] is good clean fun but not the best way to get people to lend you a sacred object or dig up their cemetery.

== Private life ==
Weiss' first husband was Canadian psychologist and race theorist [[J. Philippe Rushton]] {{lived|1943|2012}}, and her second husband is British [[UFO]] enthusiast [[Nick Pope]].<ref>Alejandro Rojas, [https://openminds.tv/mod-ufo-hunter-weds-638/ "Ex-Ministry of Defence UFO hunter weds during UFO conference,"] ''OpenMinds: Credible UFO News and Information'', March 22, 2011 archive https://archive.ph/Lsf1T</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lLMtlgcCm0 Taboo and Cancel Culture: A Conversation with Elizabeth Weiss. The Rise of Taboos in Science & Limits to Academic Freedom] ''The Michael Shermer Show'' (Aug 17, 2024) ''YouTube''. t=11:24-11:42, t=11:01-11:06.</ref>

Weiss attended [[Hereticon]] 2024.<ref>[https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2024/11/13/i-attended-hereticon/ I Attended Hereticon] by Elizabeth Weiss (13 November 2024) ''Minding the Campus: Reforming our Universities''.</ref>

An opinion piece in the Belgian web magazine dewereldmorgen.be says that Weiss is friends with [[Michael Shermer]], who admires Rushton's work.<ref>[https://www.dewereldmorgen.be/community/maarten-boudry-op-een-race-science-bijeenkomst/ "Maarten Boudry op een race science-bijeenkomst"], dewereldmorgen.be, July 1, 2025</ref>

== References ==
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[[Category:Anthropologists]]
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Anthropologists, Academia, Living people