Meiji University returns Indigenous remains kept on campus to Alaska

On September 30, Meiji University announced the return of Indigenous human remains that had been housed on campus since the 1960s, after they were originally taken from two locations in Alaska. The remains were given back to their descendants in 2023 and again in August of this year. This marks the first known voluntary return of such remains by a university or research institution in Japan.

The university's Professor of Anthropology Toru Yamada explained that the decision came after it was discovered in 2021 that the museum housed remains believed to have been looted from Alaska. In the mid-1960s, a research team from Meiji University traveled to Alaska to conduct archaeological and ethnological studies. According to Yamada, one assistant professor of ethnology on the team collected human remains in a clandestine manner, including a skull from a dwelling in Point Hope, Alaska.

Despite later moving to other universities, many of the materials collected during the expedition remained at Meiji University, including the skull. Yamada reached out to the local Indigenous government in Alaska and offered to return the remains, leading to a memorial rite in accordance with Indigenous religious practices. The remains were then returned to Alaska in March 2023.

Further investigation uncovered 11 additional pieces of human remains, including another skull, collected in 1967 from a grave at a settlement on Nelson Island, Alaska. These were also returned to the Indigenous community in August 2023. Yamada expressed gratitude for the Indigenous community's acceptance of the return, stating that the university was relieved to address past mistakes and rectify an injustice.