In class we discussed whether or not it is ethical to disinter the remains of humans in order to gain valuable knowledge about the past. One presenter argued that seeing as these people were buried “hundreds of years ago” there is no way for someone in contemporary society to feel a connection to them. To an extent, this may be correct for a large number of people, however, it seems that within smaller groups there is still a connection to the past. This should be taken into account, and not discredited as we must keep in mind that groups such as the aboriginal tribes have operated under the same religion for centuries therefore giving them a direct connection to their past and enabling them to hold their elders in high esteem.

It is wrong of current academics to force modern views onto these groups as they seem quite content with their oral history and find no need for there to be excavations in order for them to learn about their past. If it is bodies from a certain time period archaeologists are in search of, they should exhaust all the other resources before entering into a situation where parties may become upset or cause legal action due to the desire to know about the past.

Working at a cemetery for the last 4 years, it is pretty obviously that death is a very serious thing among families. Although there are newer parts to the cemetery, the older parts always interest me most, and I often find myself wondering at what point it will be permissible to dig up these graves and extrapolate from these bodies to gain knowledge about the Victorian period (not to mention all the amazing clothes that would be there… just a side note haha). Not to mention that being able to locate actual graves would help me greatly in my research and in putting together the history of the cemetery – but this is not an option and I must continually cross reference everything. From my experience at this cemetery, and even though it is only about 200 years old, I believe that if we started to disinter people in the older sections, many people in St. Catharine’s would get very upset. Sometimes we must sacrifice knowledge for culture, and if any one person objects to the opening of a grave, we must respect their wishes.