When
Autopsy and Indigenous Peoples: Consolidation of Power via Medical Knowledge in the Settler Colonial State
Deondre Smiles
President's Postdoctoral Scholar, College of Arts and Sciences
Ohio State University
Abstract: The act of autopsy is held up as an important process in ascertaining the causes and processes of death. Historically, autopsy and the larger practice of pathology and associated practices have been viewed as indispensable to answer questions of health, and how to keep living bodies healthy. However, these processes have been historically damaging and perilous to Indigenous communities, especially surrounding the treatment of deceased Indigenous bodies. In this talk, I seek to do the following: First, I outline the practice of autopsy, and who it serves within structures of state power and education. I then outline several key moments where the pursuit of medical knowledge and vital statistical data has caused harm to Indigenous communities and has led to contestations between Indigenous people and the state. I then contemplate the geographies of autopsy in the United States and Canada, alongside the spatial extent of religious objections to autopsy and what this might mean for Indigenous concerns surrounding the practice going forward.
Friday, February 5th, 2021 at 3:30pm
For Zoom link, email Amanda Percy