Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze (Part 1 of 2)Disembodied brains, culture and science: Indigenous lives under gaze (Part 1 of 2)
All In The Mind
The incredible saga of Ishi, California's last 'wild' Indian, is the stuff of American folklore. It's also the quest for a lost brain, taken from Ishi's tuberculosis ravaged body at death—only to be rediscovered and repatriated 80 years later. And next week—a young Maori scientist working with post-mortem brain tissue is breaking new ground, to keep her lab life 'culturally safe'.
30:12•20 Dec 2008
Ishi’s Missing Brain: Science, Racism and Indigenous Grief
Episode Overview
- Ishi, the last known Yahi man, was taken to a San Francisco museum and treated both as a cherished individual and as a scientific specimen.
- Despite Ishi’s clear wish to avoid dissection, an autopsy was performed and his brain was removed and sent to the Smithsonian.
- Oren Starn uncovered archival letters confirming that Ishi’s brain had been shipped and stored among hundreds of other preserved brains.
- Native American activists campaigned for the return of Ishi’s remains, revealing tensions between tribal claims and museum authority over repatriation.
- The episode highlights wider ethical disputes about studying ancient and Indigenous remains, contrasted with cultural views of the body and brain, including Māori perspectives.
“If anybody talks about conducting an autopsy of Ishi in the interest of science, then say for me that science can go to hell.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of how science, culture and colonial history collide over something as small – and as symbolically huge – as a human brain. This highlight episode of *All In The Mind* zeroes in on the extraordinary story of Ishi, known as "America's last wild Indian", and the decades-long mystery of what happened to his brain after his death.
The show is perfect if you're curious about how power, race and "objective" science can shape the way marginalised peoples are treated. Professor of cultural anthropology Oren Starn shares how Ishi was taken from a hidden canyon in California, turned into a museum attraction, and then subjected to an autopsy against his clearly expressed wishes. As Starn puts it, scientist Saxton Pope wanted "to learn everything about him", down to the weight of his lungs.
You’ll hear how Ishi’s brain was shipped off in 1916 to the Smithsonian’s vast "wet collection" of preserved body parts, forgotten in a tank among dozens of other brains, and then finally traced and identified decades later by Starn and Native American activists. The moment the jar is unveiled – "the sight of the brain on the plastic conference table brought the emotion of violation and sadness welling to the surface" – is described in vivid detail.
The episode also touches on Māori views of the body and brain, setting up next week’s conversation with scientist Melanie Shung, who uses prayer and protocol to make her Huntington’s disease research culturally safe. Style-wise, you’ll get careful storytelling, historical context and ethical debate, rather than sensationalism. It’s aimed at thoughtful listeners interested in psychology, anthropology, colonial history and the ethics of research on human remains.
If you’ve ever wondered who gets to decide what happens to someone’s body after death – and what that says about us – this one is hard to shake. What responsibilities should science carry toward the people it studies?
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