From around 2005 there was a distinct uptick in international interest in the repatriation of human remains to indigenous groups. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), active from 1990 in the United States, has played a huge part in the rise of repatriation debate. Australia in particular played a leading role, with contacts and meetings in Stockholm as early as 2005.
In response to this interest, the then Swedish Social Democratic Government commissioned an assignment to the major national museums and three historical medical faculties – Uppsala University, Lund University and Karolinska Institute in Stockholm – to inventory their collections and provide information about the presence of human remains of indigenous groups in their collections.
Repatriation Requests and Institutional Involvement
The work resulted in requests for the return of human remains to Australia (2007-2008), Hawaii (2009) and New Zeeland (2011) initiated a process of reflecting on the care and management of collections. Return of human remains to Australia and New Zeeland happened simultaneously from the Anatomical collection at Lund University. At the forefront was the Historical Museum in Stockholm, which at the time was responsible for the craniological collection of Uppsala University. The Karolinska Institute also became involved through the intercession of the Historical Museum.
Media Attention and Public Engagement
Concurrently the transfer of the Anatomical Collection at Lund University in (1995) to its Historical Museum provided a parallel development there. Collections like these were still relatively unknown. Swedish media had in the beginning of the 1980’s intermittently written about the presence of these kinds of collections, but so far as if they were a new “discovery” by the media, as “scoops”.
In 2014 the exhibition "Döden – ett bekymmer?" ("Death – a concern?" in English, the title after a citation from a poem by the Swedish poet Birger Söberg) opened. It was hugely popular with the public but also broadly covered by the media. The exhibition aimed to highlight the anatomical collection, create debate and discussions, ask questions and to relay the past, present and future history of the collection.
Challenges in Collection Management
In Stockholm the remains of the Karolinska Institute Medical University’s anatomical museum in 1968 had been deposited with the newly created Department for Osteology at Stockholm University. The craniological collection, containing human remains from indigenous groups was colloquially known as “The Retzius collection”.
In 2005 the Osteology Department deposited most of the craniological collection with the Stockholm Museum of Medical History. The same year, 2005, the Stockholm Region authority decided to discontinue the museum. All collections passed into storage. More problematic, the closure of the museum disrupted the chain of depositions, making it unclear which institution was responsible for administrative tasks such as repatriation requests. With Stockholm University no longer responsible and the Museum of Medical History gone, this function simply lapsed.
The collections technically remained under the ownership of Karolinska Institute, yet the institute had no administrative responsibility or even access to them. Despite this, the university carried a significant historic and moral responsibility for these collections.
Karolinska Institute's Renewed Role
Starting in 2008, Karolinska Institute began to receive occasional requests for assistance in the repatriation of indigenous remains. By 2011, the Medical History and Heritage Unit (MHK Unit) at Karolinska Institute, led by Olof Ljungström, recognized that this was evolving into a pressing issue. Internally, the MHK Unit advocated for the collection's return to the institute, enabling them to process these requests and ensure proper management and care for the collection. This effort led to a reversal of the depositions dating back to 1968, effectively bringing the craniological collection back into storage at Karolinska Institute in Solna, Stockholm by early 2005.
The move sparked extensive media interest once again, with the Dagens Nyheter morning paper showing particular enthusiasm. The MHK Unit decided to offer the paper an exclusive, resulting in a major article series published in 2005 by Björn af Kleen. During this period, the MHK Unit and Karolinska Institute also participated in international interviews with AP and the French newspapers Libération and l’Humanité, while declining requests from Helsingin Sanomat and AP Television in the US for unrestricted filming and photography of the Karolinska Institute collection.
Simultaneously, Uppsala University’s collection was transferred back from the SHM to the Museum Gustavianum for proper care and custody. This transfer coincided with a significant research project, which included an account of the Uppsala craniological collection by archaeologist Fredrik Svanberg, titled "Människosamlarna" (in English “The Human Collectors") in 2014.
International Collaboration and Networking
Around the same time in Oslo, the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology assumed custodianship of a collection of human remains and sought advice from other museums and institutions facing similar issues. They visited the exhibition in Lund and contacted Karolinska Institute to arrange a visit, prompting the institute to organize a broader event. This event included invitations to other institutions like the Historical Museum and Gustavianum, leading to the creation of a collaborative network in 2015. Olof Ljungström and Eva Åhrén from Karolinska Institute played pivotal roles in establishing this network.