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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/23/trinity-college-dublin-to-return-skulls-stolen-from-inishbofin>
"Trinity College Dublin is to return skulls stolen a century ago from the Irish
island of Inishbofin, setting a possible precedent for other controversial
human remains and artefacts held by the university.
The institution apologised on Wednesday for keeping the 13 skulls that two
academic headhunters had robbed from the ruins of a medieval monastery on the
island off the coast of Galway in 1890.
“I am sorry for the upset that was caused by our retaining of these remains and
I thank the Inishbofin community for their advocacy and engagement with us on
this issue,” the provost, Linda Doyle, said in a statement.
She said Trinity would work with the community to return the remains in a
respectful way. “I am glad that we have made an evidence-based decision and
that our process allowed all points of view to be heard.”
The decision followed years of campaigning led by Marie Coyne, an Inishbofin
historian, Ciarán Walsh, an independent scholar and curator, and Pegi Vail, a
New York University anthropologist. Coyne welcomed the news, saying she was
“over the moon”.
Almost all of the island’s 170 inhabitants had signed a petition demanding the
skulls’ return, saying their removal was a colonial-era violation of their
ancestors. The campaign was part of a global reckoning that is putting pressure
on institutions to return human remains obtained under an academic guise."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
