Decolonising Animal Remains in Natural History Museums

The remnants of extinct island species are today found in museumcollections far away from their original island habitats because of colonialcollection practices. Unlike human remains removed through colonialism,there has not to the same extent been a demand for the repatriation ofanimal remains, even though the question of belonging is also relevant todiscuss in the context of nature. This talk will interrogate the way in whichanimal remains exhibited in public museums perpetuate colonial powerdynamics, exploring where they should be located in an age of massextinction. The talk will focus on the only two specimens left of the extinctSaint Lucia giant rice rat at the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Parisand the London Natural History Museum, putting the collection practices inthe colonial setting into conversation with archaeological bone remainsfound throughout the Caribbean Islands.