A bone to pick: a review of human remains in South African Museums and a history of human remains at the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History.

Abstract

Retrospectively, human remains in museums are often attributed to the legacies and history of colonisation and apartheid when many museums were founded in South Africa. Employing postcolonial theory, this paper critiques colonialism by providing a historical review of the collection of human remains in South African museums as depositories. The focus of this study investigates more specifically the history of human remains (including fossilised and mummified remains) at the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History in Pretoria, South Africa. Research details the provenance, types of human remain collections, the inadequate, often racialised catalogue process and procedural policy in acquiring the human remains over the span of more than a hundred years. This paper argues there is a colonial and an apartheid ‘bone to pick’, however, attempts to better understand the role specifically of museum curation, deaccession measures and repatriation of human remains from the viewpoint of a national museum. Research highlights some postcolonial perspectives of deaccession, return, repatriation, and redress, as well as what human remains are and what they represented in the past and what they represent today. Closing remarks suggest that decolonisation, the social justice approach, and legislative gaps have placed museums under much curatorial pressure to change and transform. Nonetheless, the challenge remains that comprehensive legislation on human remains and repatriation direly needs attention to guide museum processes in South Africa.