EDINBURGH (United Kingdom) A Scottish university has completed what is believed to be the first international repatriation ever of ancestral remains to mainland United States.
More than 150 years after they were taken, the University of Edinburgh has returned the remains of six persons from the Muscogee Nation during a formal ceremony in Edinburgh late last month. These include the skulls of four Muscogee and two Euchee ancestors.
The Muscogee Nation’s Department of Culture and Humanities will now formally repatriate them to the tribe’s original homelands in Georgia in the United States, from where they were forcibly taken.
The ancestral remains were handed over to a delegation of tribal officials. Later, the delegation met a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom to learn about archival documents that showcase the Muscogee Nation’s relationship with the Crown. They also visited the British Museum to look at artifacts from Josiah Francis, a Muscogee leader who traveled to London to earn British support in halting the expansion of US territory in the early 19th century. Francis was ultimately unsuccessful and was later hanged by Andrew Jackson.
The ancestral remains were originally part of a collection belonging to Edinburgh’s Phrenological Society, which was an entity separate from the University, and were acquired some time before 1858, according to a press release from the Muscogee Nation. The Phrenological Society itself closed in 1886 and items in its collections were transferred to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh. The remains were given to the Society by Professor W Byrd Powell (1799-1867), an American physician and strong believer in the 19th century pseudoscience of phrenology. Powell studied Native American skulls, thinking he could find links between their measurements, intellect and character traits.
Phrenology was a popular theory during the colonial era. It formulated racist theories of inferiority based on the shape and dimensions of a skull. While it has long since been discredited, ancestral remains taken from communities in order to study this theory still remain in museum collections across the world, the press release said.
The University of Edinburgh’s Anatomical Museum now cares for approximately 1,000 items that once belonged to the Phrenological Society, including human and zoological skulls, plaster casts and artworks.
Phrenology was never officially taught as an academic subject at Edinburgh. However, it was supported by several influential figures, whose connections with the University gave it legitimacy and prestige.
The University continues to examine ways to address its legacy and the contemporary impact of its past. In 2025, it carried out one of the most ambitious and wide-ranging academically led examinations of history and race ever to be undertaken in the UK. The result of more than four years of work, findings brought to light confronting and often uncomfortable accounts of its historical ties to slavery and colonialism, the legacy of racist teachings and ideologies, and current challenges around race and inclusion.
The work builds on activity already under way across the institution and includes repatriations of historical remains, an area where the University has a long-established record.
The University’s first repatriation took place more than 75 years ago and is widely considered to represent the first such activity in Scotland. Most recently, in 2025, the remains of three Indigenous Ainu people were returned to their community in Japan.
After the formal repatriation, David Hill, Principal Chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, said: “We have been blessed with a tremendous honor and respect from our friends at the University of Edinburgh with the return of these ancestral remains. What makes this occasion even more special and meaningful for us is that we had to travel over 4,000 miles and cross an ocean to receive the kind of dignity and decency that we still cannot find here at home.”
Professor Tom Gillingwater, Chair of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh, said: “Caring for and addressing the history of our collections is a key responsibility for the University and repatriations play a central role in this work. They also offer incredibly meaningful opportunities for us to work with communities around the world to build relationships and gain a better understanding of our shared past.”
Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of Edinburgh, said: “Repatriations are an important part of our work to confront our history and we are unwavering in our commitment to continue addressing past and present racialized inequalities at the University.”
Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel and get instant updates
