MAx Evans wrote: Hasn't anyone heard of NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act)? Most culturals consider the disposition of the remains of their dead to be special. For museums to ignore these values by curating (or worse, displaying) human remains is offensive. To which I reply: My mind drifts back to my breakfast this morning (it seems so long ago) and how I watched one of the morning news programs as I munched rice krispies with my son. Such an appropriate breakfast story was being played about the archealogists who are digging up human remains at Jamestown. Toursits and newsmen gathered around the open grave as the ghouls with clipboards dusted off the bones, and I heard no one crying out about disturbing cultural remains, etc. I guess it is all depends on who is being dug up: europeans or natives, and how long ago they bit the dust. I never researched my family history; you'd think that someone in our line of work should be required to do genealogy. Supposing I did, and supposing I discovered that great great (add as many as you want) grandpa Mortimer was with Captain John Smith's group and died of some hideous disease. Would these fellows busily excavating in front of the cameras care much for my digestion? Kim Allen Scott Special Collections Librarian MSU-Bozeman Libraries Montana State University Bozeman, MT 59717 406-994-5297 [log in to unmask]