Museums have a dark past, but we can fix that | Chip Colwell | TEDxMileHigh

Museums are beloved cultural institutions, with more than 850 million visits each year in the U.S. alone. But behind the scenes, a war is raging - many cultures want their heritage returned to its place of origin. In this enlightening talk, Museum Curator Chip Colwell offers a surprising solution to this complicated ethical dilemma. Chip Colwell is the Senior Curator of Anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He’s published 10 books, most recently Plundered Skulls and Stolen Spirits: Inside the Fight to Reclaim Native America’s Culture. His work has been featured in publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, Salon, and Slate. Chip is the founding Editor-in-Chief of sapiens.org, an online magazine about anthropological discoveries. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@DavidSmith-cv1cl]

Well done and well spoken. Glad that Denver museum is focused on doing the right thing.

[@NikLaGnome]

It's nice to see that at least some people care enough to address this :)

[@leslieflibotte7554]

Thank you Chip Colwell, good food for thought,plan and action!

[@georgettawhite390]

Great talk! Love that museum. We miss Denver.

[@midnitewaterchief]

Give it back

[@ereanche]

Gorgeous talk. So deep!

[@pm3df]

Very nice

[@henrylivingstone2971]

Is it not going to deteriorate up in that mountain? Exposed to the elements and all that?

[@kelleyklor1717]

That's the purpose of it. Not everything has to be preserved - we have to take the context of the item into account. It isn't for those outside of the culture to decide.

[@henrylivingstone2971]

@@kelleyklor1717
Then without preservation the Zuni culture is doomed to eventually deteriorate and be forgotten to the annals of history.

[@sarahb3691]

Teuci0’