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Dos reyes neozelandeses: Notas sobre objetivación museográfica, restos humanos y formación del imperio (Brasil – mares del sur, siglo diecinueve)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2020

Edmundo Pereira Open the ORCID record for Edmundo Pereira [Opens in a new window]
Edmundo Pereira*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Quinta da Boa Vista s/n. Rio de Janeiro, RJ20.940-040, Brasil
*
(edmundopereira@mn.ufrj.br)
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Abstract

Hacia 1820, luego de una expedición dirigida por Louis Claude de Sauces de Freycinet, el dibujante del equipo científico, Jacques Arago (1790-1855), negoció un conjunto de objetos de curiosidad con el recién fundado Museo Real, en Rio de Janeiro, entonces capital del Imperio luso-brasilero. Entre los ítems negociados, se encontraban dos cabezas embalsamadas de reyes neozelandeses. Éstas, en particular, accionaron un intrincado conjunto de actores, posiciones y proyectos que ponen de manifiesto la organización sociocultural de ese período, principalmente la relación entre Ciencia, Museos e Imperio-Nación. El artículo propone una primera lectura desde las condiciones de obtención de los dos restos, enfatizando los múltiples regímenes de objetivación por los que han pasado; desde el intercambio de armas en el contexto de las guerras coloniales; su negociación como artículos de colección científica; y finalmente, los recientes debates sobre la humanización de la Antropología y la repatriación de antepasados desaparecidos.

Around 1820, after an expedition led by Louis Claude de Sauces de Freycinet, the draftsman of the scientific team, Jacques Arago (1790–1855), negotiated a set of "curios objects" with the recently founded Royal Museum in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of the Portuguese-Brazilian Empire. Among the negotiated items were two shrunken heads of New Zealand chiefs. These, in particular, triggered an intricate set of actors, positions, and projects that reveal the sociocultural organization of that period, mainly the relationship between science, museums and empire-nation. In this article, I propose an initial reading of the conditions surrounding the manner in which these human remains became a part of the museum collections. I emphasize the multiple regimes of objectification through which the act of collecting human remains has passed, from the exchange of arms in the context of the colonial wars, to their negotiation as an article of scientific collection, and, more recently, to the debates surrounding the humanization of anthropology and repatriating disappeared ancestors.

Keywords

Museo NacionalImperio luso-brasileroreyes-jefes neozelandesescabezas embalsamadassiglo diecinueveNational MuseumPortuguese-Brazilian EmpireNew Zealand chiefsshrunken headsnineteenth century
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 360 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by the Society for American Archaeology

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