Legacies of colonial violence in natural history collections

Most stories told by natural history museums inevitably concern natural history, using collections to engage people with biological and geological mechanisms behind life on earth. Such institutions typically aim to inspire visitors and other audiences to care for the natural world. However, including narratives exploring troubling social histories attached to the acquisition of natural history specimens is an important step towards decolonising natural history museums. Telling these stories is vital in enabling museums to better reflect the societies they serve. In this paper we use the specific histories of two specimens as case studies that involve issues which museums interested in decolonising their…