Yes, Eric; that was pretty inconsistent.  Besides, it seems a stretch to
compare watching "Hawaii 5-0" and Pepsi commercials to finding one's
gradmother's remains in a display case.  Nationalism is a reflexive state
of mind.  As Europeans and Euro-Americans went on their patrimony
apprpriating field trips, those they would encounter would define
themselves as "the People".  Beyond that is "us, as opposed to them".
It's easy to deplore modern theivery.  Conservationists go to AFrica to
save wildlife after their ancestor's cultures destroyed the native animal
population.  Should we repopulate Greece with lions, as there once were?
That's pretty hard.  But Nefertiti?  When found, that famous bust was in
six pieces and, in order to pass inspection by the Egyptian authorities
and get it out of the country, the Germans scattered the portions
throughout the finds to be deemed national treasures.  In pieces, the
whole wasn't noticed, so they took it to Berlin.  It's not enoug to be
sorry that your grandfather was part of the oppressive system, you must
do something to pay back for what he did.  Dysfunction passes down
through families, why not cultures?  Re-patriation does happen
occasionally, and sometimes valuable pieces are lost due to the
less-than-optimum contidions that treasures are returned to.  But, hey,
they were stolen.  IF the cultures hadn't been so disrupted in the first
place, the traditional historians probably could have given us the story,
without the artifact.
 
Sule Greg C. Wilson
Pueblo Grande Museum
4619 East Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ  85034
 
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