@sunnirae1900
Lets all appreciate that HBO puts all LWT episodes in almost their entirety for free on youtube without a shitton of ads.
@rhov-anion
I studied Native American Anthropology under a Cherokee professor, and one of the things she was involved with (a side hustle, you could say) was seeking to get stolen Native artifacts out of museum basements and back with the tribes. In one case, the museum was being stubborn that "you can't prove we stole this," so my professor tracked down the granddaughter of the woman who made the item (I think it was a ceremonial bead robe or shawl). This tribal elder explained the little tricks her grandmother used that literally no one could have known, things even the museum didn't notice until they inspected even closer, family trade secrets she still used and had taught to her own grandchildren. She made it more than abundantly clear, this belonged to her family. Back in the 1800s, her village was raided and her grandmother gangraped by White men. They ran off with anything they thought looked valuable. This included some of the young girls, livestock, head dresses, furs, and her beadwork outfits. So not only was it stolen, but in a really horrific manner. The museum had bought the majority of their Native American artifacts off a group of rapists. That was not the type of publicity they wanted, so they gave it back. This old lady wore her grandmother's robe at the next dance ceremony. All of this was around 20 years ago, so I hope her grandkids still wear that outfit at ceremonies.
@KarmikCykle
"Why do we have three of Gerald Ford's ribs? Because we couldn't get four." Favorite line in the entire video.
@spornge
My grandmother found out her grand parents had managed to obtain an Eaglehead dress when she was going through our family storage, she contacted a bunch of people about where it should be probably donated, the museums wanted to not only claim it and planned to put in storage , but were going to fine her for owning it. Keep in mind she was not trying to sell just send it where it should be, thankfully a native American Heritage association got ahold of her and had the legal power to defend their claim on it so it did not end up in a box in a bottom of a basement. It was really gorgoues. I wish I knew where it ended up only that it ended up with a heritage organizaiton.
@greghodges2116
One thing John didn't mention was how much more stolen art is hidden away in private collections. These people often have deeper pockets and less hesitation to acquiring art with a "dubious" ownership history.
@wanaxdigammes3484
Fun fact about the Elgin Marbles: After the British Museum refused to return them on the grounds that Greece didn’t have a proper place to display them, they built the state of the art modern Acropolis Museum in Athens for the chief purpose of housing the Elgin Marbles. They still refuse to send them back. Also, when Lord Elgin was transporting the marbles to Britain, the ship they were on sank, and the marbles had to be salvaged from the ocean floor.
@PristinePerceptions
One of the biggest problems with the "anyone can visit it" argument is that many of them are not meant to just be visited. Many of the idols of deities from Asian countries were stolen from active worship. They would absolutely be put back into worship the minute they were returned. Many Native dresses and artifacts are still used ceremonially. These are not "history" - they were in use in the modern day.
@backgroundambience4373
This reminds me a lot of the Irish Giant Charles Byrne. He was 7' 7'' and he was so afraid of a collector or museum displaying his body when he died that he had his friends bury him at sea. Unfortunately, before his friends could follow through with their promise his corpse was stolen by a 'collector' and was eventually sold to the Royal College of Surgeons in London. It is still on display there over 200 years later despite efforts by activists for him to be buried. People with the same genetic condition as Byrne, who are from the same part of the country as him and probably share DNA have offered to donate their skeletons when they die so that Byrne can be released, but the museum has always refused.
@satishkpradhan
Fun fact the word loot is a Hindi / Sanskrit (Indian language) word. So the British looted so much that they even took the word loot which the people cried when they were looting.
@burlingk
"If you say yes to one, you would suddenly find the British Museum is empty." That's kinda the point.
@_TheGoddessinTraining_
"no one saw that man as significant" made me immediately cry. As a Hindu and Indian born in the US, this is a deeply painful subject, and John Oliver (as always) covered it so well. Thank you for advocating for cultures whose vocal cords have been ripped from them then called too stupid to speak up when it was happening.
@DanicaShardae201
My favorite thing I think I've ever seen in a museum is a totem pole carved by a local tribal artist. The museum used to have a looted totem pole, but they gave it back to the tribe and instead commissioned a new pole to be displayed in a section dedicated to the tribe's history and current goings-on.
@CaptMortifyd
"The difference between archaeology and looting is 50 years." - one of my anthropology professors explaining the fucked up providence arguments of museums.
@himarisuzuki5208
I love how the quote "if we said yes to one you'd soon find the British museum empty" is literally just them going mask off and saying "we won't give any of it back because we want money"
@inelouw
One of the most fun museums I've ever visited was filled with REPLICAS of famous sculptures, and the fact that they weren't originals truly didn't lessen the impact of the craftsmanship and artistic vision of the artist. I don't know why we can't do that with all the objects we've stolen from other countries. I'm sure that most people wouldn't be able to spot the difference even if they knew.
@shaynannigans
When I was in a museum in Cambodia, they had some empty glass cases describing an artifact that was in some other museum and when they asked for it back. Some of the cases did have items with labels when they asked for an item back and when they received it usually several years to a decade later. I think this public shaming is a clever idea and makes people more aware of the issue.
@My-name-is-Kit
I used to work for the natural science museum in Houston and they did go through their exhibits and their archives and return Native American artifacts to the various nations they belonged to. Then they worked with native artists and commissioned replicas for display. I don't know why other museums can't do something similar.
@johnnichols2474
My mother inherited a piece of the Parthenon from her father that he brought home after WWll. I remember it being a doorstop growing up. She mailed it back to Greece about 15 years ago
@nicoleseguin3607
My daughter works at the National Museum of Scotland and worked hard to help a indigenous community from our home in Canada try to repatriate a memorial pole that was stolen from their community. She was disciplined for trying to help them. I’d love you to do a story about their struggle.
@silvermegaman8519