Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Reimagining Repatriation: Providing Frameworks for Inclusive Cultural Restitution," at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Calls are increasing globalul for cultural restitution and the repatriation of Ancestral remains and cultural heritage items. Archaeological and collecting institutions have recently seen upward swings in the return across Europe of objects looted from the kingdom of Benin, for example, and of Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Ancestors and items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in the United States. This session explores restitution and the repatriation of such Ancestors and cultural items from a global perspective, as well as the repatriation of lesser-discussed materials such as biological samples, archaeological and other archives, and knowledge itself. Widening the repatriation discussion to include international frameworks and uncommon “materials” provides opportunities to reimagine what repatriation looks like in practice and to what and whom it applies. The session will include a designated question-and-answer period in order to facilitate the expansion of this conversation.