Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas

Hamann-Todd collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History have
been used to develop methods for identifying age, stature, sex, and ancestry,
useful in forensic sciences (20). They’ve helped researchers understand
how to identify diseases and trauma that impact the skeleton, so they can
better reconstruct the lives of past peoples.
But many have raised concerns about the ethics of the existence and
continued use of these human remains, particularly in light of the history of
their formation and who is represented in them (21).
This includes many Indigenous peoples of the Americas who did not
consent to having their ancestors’ remains disturbed and view their
inclusion in teaching and research collections to be a violation of their
traditional beliefs about the sacredness of human remains and how the dead
should be treated. “They approach Indigenous remains as objects to be
studied and things that have value as long as they are being used for
scientific knowledge production. There is no conversation about the deep
trauma and harm that can be caused by remains being exhumed, let alone
being kept from repatriation, or extracting material and data out of
communities without their full consent or knowledge,” wrote Anishinaabe
scholar Deondre Smiles in a recent essay (22).
By all accounts, Hrdlička was a mediocre archaeologist, even by early
20th-century standards. His excavation notes are careless—he didn’t
provide nearly enough details about context—and he discarded artifacts and
destroyed ritualistically preserved ancestors to retrieve just the skulls for his
collections. Like the majority of his contemporaries, Hrdlička cared very
little for the wishes of descendant communities regarding their ancestors’
bodies and lacked empathy or understanding of the amount of damage he
was causing, either to them or the fields of archaeology and physical
anthropology. While complaining about previous settlers’ “visits” resulting
in looting and disturbances to cemeteries, he even remarked of his own
skull collecting that “[it is] strange how scientific work sanctions
everything” (23).
Although there are no existing records of their reactions to Heye’s and
Hrdlička’s activities, it’s probably safe to assume that the early 20th-century
Delawares and Mohicans were not sanguine about having their ancestors
exhumed, even for scientific purposes. Certainly, present-day members of
the tribes are not.