THE University of Edinburgh has returned the skulls of native American people used for racist phrenology studies in the late 19th century.
Six skulls have been returned to the Muscogee Nation in America following a summit between leaders of the tribal nation and university chiefs as part of larger repatriation efforts.
The skulls will be shipped to Oklahoma, where the tribe is now based after being forcibly relocated by the “Indian Removal Act”, now regarded by scholars as an act of state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing or genocide.
The university initially acquired the skulls from the Edinburgh’s Phrenological Society – a society dedicated to the racist and discredited theory of phrenology, which supposed that conclusions about intellect and character could be drawn from the shape of a skull.
L-R Front Row: MCN Secretary of Culture & Humanities RaeLynn Butler, Second Chief Duck Creek Ceremonial Ground Scott Stafford, MCN Principal Chief David Hill, University of Edinburgh Principal Professor Sir Peter Mathieson.
The theories were used by white Europeans to claim superiority over Africans, Native Americans, and Asians and to justify heinous acts of colonialism and violence around the world.
The Edinburgh Phrenological Society, which was a separate but interlinked entity to the University of Edinburgh, acquired the skulls from an American phrenologist sometime before 1858.
The society closed in 1886 and transferred its collection of skulls to the Department of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh.
Despite phrenology never being taught at the University of Edinburgh, around 1,000 skulls have been retained to this day.
The university’s first repatriation took place more than 75 years ago, but efforts have now been stepped up to return these skulls and engage with the university’s uncomfortable legacy of ties to slavery, colonialism, and racist teachings.
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.
“I am honoured to have been able to play a part in returning these ancestral remains to the Muscogee Nation.”
The Muscogee Nation is one of the largest self-governing tribal nations in the United States and now includes approximately 103,000 people.
Before European contact in 1539, the Muscogee, who were the dominant culture in the American southeast, were known for maize agriculture, earthen mound building, and extensive trade networks, that spanned the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
They were driven from their ancestral homeland in modern around the Mississippi River after the “Indian Removal Act”.
Huge numbers of their people died as they undertook the hard journey west, to Oklahoma, in what is now known as the “Trail of Tears”.
David Hill, principal chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, described the importance of returning the skulls to their ancestral homeland around the Mississippi River: “We have been blessed with a tremendous honour 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.
“There are ancestors still not whole that are kept by institutions here in America.
“We can only hope that this incredible gesture by the University of Edinburgh will inspire these institutions to do the same and move these continuing injustices in the right direction and on the right side of history.”
In 2025, as part of renewed repatriation efforts, the University of Edinburgh repatriated the skulls of three indigenous Ainu people to their homeland in northern Japan.
Peter Mathieson, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said: “It has been a privilege to welcome representatives from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and to assist in returning their ancestor’s remains.
“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 racialised inequalities at the University.”
It was reported last year that The University of Edinburgh is in confidential talks with African leaders to return 185 skulls taken from Africa coercively.
