Past Programs
Indigenous - Other Peoples - 2008
Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze [Part 2 of 2]
03/05/2008
Maori people believe the body is derived from the earth, and returns to the ancestral earth at death—complete. The flesh, and all its bits, are sacred. The new Human Tissue Bill in New Zealand has provoked debate over who owns your body at death—you or your family? The Maori Party argues the legislation is Western-centric and racist. And, a young Maori scientist working with post-mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life 'culturally safe', in consultation with her tribe.
Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze (Part 1 of 2)
26/04/2008
The incredible saga of Ishi, California's last 'wild' Indian, is the stuff of American folklore. It's also the quest for a lost brain, taken from Ishi's tuberculosis ravaged body at death—only to be rediscovered and repatriated 80 years later. And next week—a young Maori scientist working with post-mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life 'culturally safe'.
