Fossil Dispossession of Sioux Lands (Hybrid Lecture)

Lawrence Bradley, Adjunct Professor, Department of Geography/Geology, University of Nebraska-Omaha

The continental interior of the United States—home to many Native American communities—is a region rich in fossils. Since the nineteenth century, fossils found on Native lands have been removed and placed in museums and universities without the consent of, or proper collaboration with Native Tribes. Lawrence Bradley will discuss the history of fossil dispossession from Sioux lands and the legal frameworks—or lack of—that allowed it to occur. He will also examine the role that fossils taken from these lands have played in establishing vertebrate paleontology as a scientific discipline in the United States. Finally, he offers an approach to solving past and present disputes between Tribes and paleontologists.

Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

Presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, and the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture

Image credit: Bill Sitzman | Motion Photography