Uncovering the origins of science class skeletons

🏛️ FYI: In its 2024 budget, the federal government has $155 million allocated for museums (down from $313 million in 2023)
Today: The Mandela Effect, prolonged grief disorder, and how you can inspire you. Written by Carly Rose Gillis

If you’ve ever taken an anatomy or anthropology class, you may have seen or even handled real bones in a forum meant to educate you. But have you ever considered where those bones came from?

In “Giving the bones back,” author and craniosacral therapist Susan Raffo explains that often, these human remains are from Native American sources and taken without consent. In 1990, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted to end and prevent this practice in universities and museums that receive federal funds. But as of 2023, only about 50% of the 200,000+ human remains reported to its office have been cleared.

New regulations were passed for NAGPRA in January of this year to close known loopholes and, as Raffo writes, “put the responsibility for respectful right of return on the institutions that hold on to these remains.” This resulted in scores of museums and other institutions covering up displays while determining how to coordinate the repatriation of those remains in a new five-year timeline.

To find out if a museum or federally funded institution is NAGPRA compliant near you, you can search a host of databases on its website to see if any summaries or inventories have been filed, and who to contact at that institution. And for any who may have these artifacts in possession, the NAGPRA website provides resources to help.

“There is so much support there for looking at something whose lineage is uncertain and then taking the next step,” writes Raffo. “There is nothing that gets in the way of respectful return other than a sense of ownership and possession, a recoil away from duty.”

What else we’re reading

• Another instance of the Mandela Effect recently went viral on Tiktok, this time about the Fruit of the Loom logo and whether it did or did not feature a cornucopia. Spoiler alert: it never did. But why do these near-universal memory blips keep happening? The Debunker broke down a recent study by the University of Chicago that ruled out a few common theories about human fallibility and instead focused on how the images themselves could be inherently confusing.
• In light of the recent four year anniversary of the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Faithe J Day explores yet another dynamic to consider in how the crisis has rewritten our lives. For those who have not been able to return to pre-pandemic levels of energy or activity, she explains how comparing their symptoms with “prolonged grief disorder” may reveal more meaningful ways of finding therapy and healing.

🤔 Your daily dose of practical wisdom: about inspiration

Although we often look outward for inspiration, Pinterest Creative Director Minnie Bredouw says not to forget to look inward, too — especially in terms of how you describe yourself. “The concept of ‘narrative identity’ highlights that the way you talk about yourself, in essence, informs how you see yourself, and therefore where you may tend to focus your time in the future.”

Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Harris Sockel

Every weekday, the Medium Daily Edition offers useful, human perspectives to help you become a better reader, writer, and thinker.

Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here.

Want to browse the best of Medium? Explore staff picks.

Unlock a library of unlimited knowledge and insight with a Medium membership.

Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email us: tips@medium.com