AABA Task Force on the Ethical Study of Human Remains Recommendations: Proposal for the Management and Oversight of Community Partnership and Ethical Stewardship of Human Remains

Ethically responsible and culturally acceptable management, study, and stewardship of legacy skeletal and other human remains currently held and managed in scientific institutions is a longstanding concern that, over the length of these collections' existence, has been exiguously addressed. Most recently, the ethical treatment of legacy collections of individuals from the African American community in the United States has been especially highlighted. The American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) created a Presidential Task Force to address these concerns about legacy collections in 2022 by drafting practices and recommendations for policies to be adopted by the AABA and sibling organizations. We report on the first ever convergent analysis of research priorities and perspectives on these topics from the communities of biological anthropologists and a national cross-section of African Americans. Based on the surveys and discussions with these communities, all groups expressed a desire to enter a mutual, formal partnership where descendant communities are empowered to make decisions about the study and disposition of legacy collections. Our recommendations focus on promoting dialogue between parties involved through partnerships where desired. To make this possible, institutions should inventory and determine provenance of remains in legacy collections, ascertain the identity of descendant communities, and contact those communities using guidelines we provide. We argue that a default position taken by researchers is that no research need occur without the explicit consent of relevant descendant communities or communities of care. Examples of successful community partnerships are provided, along with new practices in ethical engagement with descendant communities.