Repatriation of human remains and burial materials of Indigenous peoples in Japan : Who owns their cultural heritages and dignity?

Ikeda, Mitsuho

Repatriation

In this paper, the author examines the ethical aspects of the debates on the repatriation of both Ainu and Ryukyuan-Okinawan human remains. The debates are framed as two sides of a controversy or lawsuit, with the “plaintiff” as Indigenous peoples and the “defendant” as the universities that possess their remains and burial materials for “scientific specimens.” The author poses four questions on repatriation in the political context of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007. Finally, some proposals for pragmatic solutions are presented from a Japanese cultural anthropologist's point of view.