the Draconian Chthonian Smithsonian
- Lin Ferguson
- Aug 18, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 13, 2024
Collection of Over 255 Brains Unearthed in Prominent Museum
By: Lin Ferguson
An article produced by Nicole Dungca and Claire Healy of the Washington Post reveals the grotesque collection of 268 (some have since been cremated) brains within the Smithsonian Institute that was scarcely known about, mostly belonging to Black & indigenous people. It should stand as no surprise that repatriation was only proven to have taken place with 4 individuals' body parts, the majority of these remains being of non-consenting Black Americans whose bodies were defiled after death in most cases. This was all a part of the plan of eugenics-infatuated anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka who wanted to prove the superiority of the white race. He collected these remains within the first half of the 20th century. Now, they still sit in storage at "the most visited museum in the Smithsonian", according to the Washington Post, which houses "one of the largest [human remains collections] in the world".
The worst part is that this injustice can continue as only Native Americans are entitled by law to the whereabouts and disclosures regarding their families' remains with help of the N.A.G.P.R.A. (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act). This means that neither Black Americans nor any other racial or national group is entitled to information regarding their loved ones potentially being exploited this way. This doesn't mean we aren't able to get that information should we know to inquire. But how many Black Americans know about this very well-kept secret of the Smithsonian?
This hearkens back to the case of the M.O.V.E. family victims' bones being fondled and trifled with by anyone from ivy league students to professors and other scholars at the University of Pennsylvania. The M.O.V.E. Family is a group of Black Americans whose efforts to unite the Black community in solidarity and enlightenment with lunch programs for the impoverished and other educational and informational events were met with both a bombing & firing squad by the local police of Philadelphia and the federal government of America in the mid-1980s. Those who perished and whose remains were not completely charred and destroyed by the fire and devastation on that block (in that house in particular) were eventually placed in the hands of a professor at the university instead of properly buried as modern American citizens are due. Some of the remains being used in the university were of children who were killed in the 1985 bombing.
The Black Saint Louisan is awaiting a response from the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History regarding repatriation for Black families. It should be noted that a number of bodies came from the St. Louis World's Fair exhibits that held Black (non-)citizens captive in cages to show their alleged inferiority. This coupled with the fact that the majority of the bodies are of Black Americans makes this 'hit home'. Updates will be added to this article.
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