ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by setting up an opposition between the rights of the museum and the rights of the source communities or communities of origin. This polarization helps to articulate the issues and frames some of the broader arguments articulated by different museums and source communities. The chapter focuses on the curation of skeletal remains and addresses the return of sacred objects or rights in photographic images and pages of journals of exploration. The polarization of the issues on the basis of religious beliefs also fails to account for more general changes in ethical standards and issues of informed individual consent that have developed in Western societies in recent decades, moving from best practice to the creation of legislative frameworks. The chapter concludes that this polarization is misleading, since the professional museum community is increasingly composed of members of source communities and source communities also provide outside stakeholders in the form of museum users, advisors, and collaborators.
