For several years there have been demands from Ojibwe and other Native American Nations to the Karl May Museum in Radebeul near Dresden: several scalps that are in the museum collection should be returned. The museum had agreed to the repatriation of the human remains last year, but has now revoked this.

Red Haircrow, Native author and activist in Berlin, writes the following:

“The Karl May Museum is absolutely in the wrong, and no amount of their posturing, blustering or supposed concern for “doing the right thing” makes their attitude okay. They’re wrong. The scalp(s) need to be returned. This is an yet another ugly example of how the collecting of “native goods/items/remains” or cultural appropriation through Indian hobbyists or by museums and the like can cause international issues and continue historic trauma to Native Americans or other indigenous peoples.”

Beyond the Karl May Museum, there is also a current debate in Dresden about the handling of human remains in state museums, including in the Saxon Parliament through two small questions(here and here).