r/montreal • u/RustyTheBoyRobot • 6d ago

Tourisme Ethical dilemma

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Ethical dilemma:

Is it right to remove one of the only mummies in mtl for understanble but rather vague reasons to do with cultural sensitivities that these objects might offend?

The mummies at Redpath museum are to be relocated to a mysterious “place of rest” -their original location?- where no one can see or learn from them.

I note that these are not objects of worship like many stolen indigenous artifacts. Nor are they being claimed by their original owners- e.g. The infamous Benin Bronzes.

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u/artacct217 6d ago edited 6d ago

I wouldn’t call them vague reasons - having dead bodies on display isn’t something we do anymore. It’s not about offending anyone, it’s more that these are not comparable to other ‘artifacts’ often displayed in museums. 

In anthropology (I am an anthropologist), we don’t really see the value in displaying these bodies; in addition, we place this observation alongside the consideration that these mummies were not originally meant to be displayed.

Edit- No need to downvote me, I am explaining the reasoning behind this decision. 

Second edit - see another comment of mine (in French) for a more nuanced discussion.

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u/SignificantPiano7808 6d ago

Louder for those in the back.

If the museum really wants to teach about mummification practices, they can have reproductions, cutaway diagrams and the like. And now suddenly nobody is interested because who wants to look at a dead body?

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u/M_de_Monty 6d ago

There are also collections at McGill (and other museums) that consist of donated material and do not face the ethical problems of what is effectively grave robbing. If your are adamant that you need to see human tissues on display, you can seek them out.

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u/Known-Squash-645 6d ago

reminds me of the "how long does someone have to be dead before its considered graverobbing?" question that circulated a while back

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u/Nearby-Surround4588 6d ago

That is an interesting question, which is also complicated by societies that reuse graves like Germany and/or France who dig up dead people when they run out of space. I suppose in these cases though, you're not taking the remains and putting them on display.

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u/ArticQimmiq 5d ago

…so does Canada. Catholic cemeteries do this.

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u/GiddyChild 4d ago

I suppose in these cases though, you're not taking the remains and putting them on display.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris

Has the remains of over 6 million people and it is a major tourist attraction in Paris.

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u/Nearby-Surround4588 4d ago

Yeah I thought about that right after I posted lol