NAGPRA Comics Project Updates
Detective Comics Vol 1, Issue 591: Rescuing and Returning Aboriginal HeritageIn 1988 a Detective Comics issue about Batman was published that featured an Aboriginal Australian named Umbaluru (translated "shady side of the rock") coming to America to get back a "relic" (ancestral remains/ceremonial item) from a wealthy collector. This is not really about repatriation because the item was forcibly taken back. But it does highlight the the kind of actions that lead to the need for repatriation! At one point in the story Umbaluru breaks into a bar and interrupts a discussion among some racist lackeys who were the ones to steal the ceremonial item on behalf of the collector. Umbaluru says, "You have spilled blood on the land. You have violated a sacred place. The earth mother demands you pay the price" and proceeds to attack them, successfully. Later Umbaluru confronts the collector at a swanky event saying, "And this, most sacred of all our people's relics. So precious it was kept in a cave on the dark side of Uluru--guarded day and night. But you had to have it!...Your filthy money has wiped out my people out, stolen their culture...so the white man can hang it on his walls!" He then proceeds to rescue the ceremonial item and give the collector a good thwacking. Batman then beats Umbaluru up a bit for taking justice into his own hands and said the man will stand trial for what he's done. After that, Umbaluru throws the collector out the window. See for yourself some pages from this 1980s comic below! Of course, this all reminded us of the now famous scene liberating a Wakanda item from a museum in the Black Panther movie... A selection of pages from Detective Comics #591, 1988: Aborigine!Alan Grant and John Wagner wrote this story, they also wrote Judge Dredd - a comic series known for critiquing law and order. To find out more about them, see this article. It gives some idea of why they may have chosen to write about this subject matter. We wonder also if the return of Uluru to Aboriginal peoples in 1985 influenced this story as well...
Did you know? NAGPRA Comics stories can be about international repatriation, too - repatriations that do not not fall under the law also teach about NAGPRA and what it does and does not cover. We welcome stories about the law and what falls outside the law - for example, repatriation regarding non-federally recognized tribes, returns from private collections, what happens after a repatriation (like an upcoming issue will show), or repatriations that took place before the law was enacted (featured in issue 2). Have an idea? Get in touch! Learn more at https://nagpracomics.weebly.com/
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