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 [log in to unmask]