Identity in Applied Repatriation Research and Practice

Establishing the identity of the deceased is a crucial component of repatriation practice. However, it is a term of myriad meanings which can encompass, for example, individual identity, social “group” identity (community, tribe, nation, etc.), geographical place or region or country, or their “racial” or “ethnic” identity. This chapter explores how concepts of identity are intertwined within repatriation practice. In its examination of social and biological identity, it considers in particular the way in which historical techniques and scientific methods are often at odds in repatriation practice.

This chapter explores how concepts of identity are intertwined in repatriation and the complexities that this may produce in repatriation claims and return processes. It considers the repatriation challenges presented by different levels of provenance information, with particular focus on Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and the United States. The chapter also explores how notions of identity may impact on how institutions consider repatriation claims. It also raises the issue of biological and social identity that are presented by the deployment of scientific techniques in repatriation practice. Ancestral Remains of Indigenous peoples were taken from a wide range of areas where the deceased can be found: for example, places of internment, hospital and prison morgues, battlefields, and massacre sites. Ancestral Remains are particularly vulnerable to separation from their archive biographies at times of movement or transfer.