Article: ‘Do not let this crime happen’: Chinook Tribe fights for return of ‘neglected’ remains
You may have noticed the following inscription on one of the front pages of The Everyday Naturalist:
This book was written on unceded Chinook land on the Long Beach Peninsula in southwest Washington. The Chinook Indian Nation has been fighting for more than half a century for federal recognition. While they were briefly recognized in 2001, eighteen months later their recognition was rescinded. To learn how you can help the Chinook fight to regain recognition and thereby gain access to much-needed resources, please visit ChinookJustice.org.
The article I linked at the top is exactly why that message is there. Those stolen remains are one of many reasons why the Chinook are seeking recognition again. Repatriation of ancestral remains and cultural artifacts is one way we've been able to try to undo at least a bit of the damage after centuries of colonial occupation and genocide of indigenous people, but only tribes and communities deemed legitimate by the federal government are able to request repatriation; unrecognized peoples are left out in the cold.
Imagine if someone went to a cemetery where your ancestors had been buried for many centuries, dug up the remains, and decided to put them in a museum or sell them for private collections. Or consider that a not-insignificant number of Native American corpses after battles with U.S. troops or settlers were then stolen for anthropological specimens and artifacts, or bones for medical study. (David Hurst Thomas' excellent book Skull Wars details that long, sordid practice.) Now, think about how on top of being forced off their land, murdered and starved, kidnapped as children, and seeing their ways of life being made illegal, indigenous people had to watch the remains of their families for generations stolen away without any recompense.
That's why we have repatriation. It's the least thing we can do in the face of this awful history. Yet entire communities are barred from seeking the return of their ancestors because they aren't federally recognized, often for political reasons.
You don't have to be a Washington resident to contact your U.S. elected officials about supporting the recognition of the Chinook Indian Nation, or to go to ChinookJustice.org to help them in their fight for recognition.
