Collaborative Approaches to Ancestral Remains Protection, Recovery, and Repatriation in Oregon

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Human Remains in the Marketplace and Beyond: Myths and Realities of Monitoring, Grappling With, and Anthropologizing the Illicit Trade in a Post-Harvard World" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The sale, trade, and otherwise mistreatment of human remains is an issue impacting a diverse institutions and entities, from sovereign Tribal nations, to universities, to law enforcement. This unethical and illegal behavior can be found in a wide range of digital and analogue venues, often making it difficult to trace the origins of both the seller and the individual whose remains are being sold. In the state of Oregon, a collaborative approach between Tribes, state agencies, and law enforcement is being used to target human remains sales and trafficking. Strategies include the creation of new positions, the development and dissemination of educational materials, and phased outreach to individuals engaged in sales. The core of this collaboration is constant, committed engagement and communication between state, federal, and Tribal partners. Information and resource sharing allows every organization to be more effective in this effort than if each were to stand alone. While many of the initiatives in Oregon are still new or being developed, they show promise in their ability to recover human remains. It is our hope that these approaches can help develop similar programs beyond Oregon.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Human Remains in the Marketplace and Beyond: Myths and Realities of Monitoring, Grappling With, and Anthropologizing the Illicit Trade in a Post-Harvard World

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39835.0