Repatriation Projects
- Somalian refugees, victims of a long-lasting civil war, have been taken in by various countries across the globe. Multiple NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and the United Nations work to repatriate these refugees and bring them back to Somalia. The desire to repatriate refugees stems from a hope of reuniting communities, families, and returning people to their country of origin that some of them were forced to flee.
- The Hopi Music Repatriation Project was founded by scholars interested in returning intellectual property back to the indigenous Hopi people. Rather than returning actual objects, this repatriation project is concerned with returning recordings and sounds of the Hopi, and to discussing not just property rights, but the stickier issues of intellectual property rights. This project is focused on sound recordings made in the 1930s and 1940s, currently housed at Columbia University.
- Ishi's remains were returned to Northern California.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
At times, museums own and display remains of native people. This was the case of Ishi, the last remaining Yahiyana Indian whose remains were taken by the Smithsonian Institute. This sparked a repatriation project to return him to California and give his remains to the Yana people, his closest relatives. This project was successful and he was returned in the year 2000. - A bongo's natural habitat is Africa, not zoos and wildlife preserves in other parts of the world..Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
There are many projects to return wild animals that now primarily live in zoos to their natural habitats. One such repatriation project seeks to return bongos (a type of African antelope) to the wild by returning them to a wildlife preserve on Mount Kenya, where slowly but surely they are taught the skills to regain and reenter their natural habitats. This particular project has been underway since 2004.
