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Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa—Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine

Gibbon, Victoria E., Feris, Loretta, Gretzinger, Joscha, Smith, Kathryn, Hall, Simon, Penn, Nigel, Mutsvangwa, Tinashe E. M., Heale, Michaela, Finaughty, Devin A., Karanja, Yvonne W., and others. (2023) Confronting historical legacies of biological anthropology in South Africa—Restitution, redress and community-centered science: The Sutherland Nine. PLOS ONE, 18 (5). Article Number e0284785. ISSN 1932-6203. (doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0284785) (KAR id:101398)

Abstract

We describe a process of restitution of nine unethically acquired human skeletons to their families, together with attempts at redress. Between 1925–1927 C.E., the skeletonised remains of nine San or Khoekhoe people, eight of them known-in-life, were removed from their graves on the farm Kruisrivier, near Sutherland in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. They were donated to the Anatomy Department at the University of Cape Town. This was done without the knowledge or permission of their families. The donor was a medical student who removed the remains from the labourers’ cemetery on his family farm. Nearly 100 years later, the remains are being returned to their community, accompanied by a range of community-driven interdisciplinary historical, archaeological and analytical (osteobiographic, craniofacial, ancient DNA, stable isotope) studies to document, as far as possible, their lives and deaths. The restitution process began by contacting families living in the same area with the same surnames as the deceased. The restitution and redress process prioritises the descendant families’ memories, wishes and desire to understand the situation, and learn more about their ancestors. The descendant families have described the process as helping them to reconnect with their ancestors. A richer appreciation of their ancestors’ lives, gained in part from scientific analyses, culminating with reburial, is hoped to aid the descendant families and wider community in [re-]connecting with their heritage and culture, and contribute to restorative justice, reconciliation and healing while confronting a traumatic historical moment. While these nine individuals were exhumed as specimens, they will be reburied as people.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284785
Uncontrolled keywords: Humans, Anthropology, Archaeology, South Africa, Cemeteries, DNA, Ancient
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Q Science > QD Chemistry
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Chemistry and Forensics
Funders: National Research Foundation (https://ror.org/05s0g1g46)
National Geographic Society (https://ror.org/04bqh5m06)
Liverpool John Moores University (https://ror.org/04zfme737)
SWORD Depositor: JISC Publications Router
Depositing User: JISC Publications Router
Date Deposited: 30 May 2023 14:35 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 19:16 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/101398 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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