More than 150 years after they were taken, the University has returned the skulls of six people from the Muscogee Nation during a formal ceremony in Edinburgh on Friday 23 January.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is a self-governed Native American Tribal Nation who are descendants of the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE).
The Nation are known for maize agriculture, earthen mound building, and extensive trade networks, that spanned the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and were the dominant culture and people of the Southeastern territory before European contact in 1539.
The tribe is now based in Oklahoma after being forcibly displaced in events, known as the ‘Trail of Tears’, following the ‘Indian Removal Act’ in 1830.
The Muscogee Nation now includes approximately 103,000 people and is the 4th largest federally recognized tribe in the US.
Once the remains are returned, the Nation's Department of Culture and Humanities will formally repatriate them to the tribe's original homelands in the Southeastern United States.
Anatomical collection
The ancestral remains were originally part of a collection belonging to Edinburgh’s Phrenological Society – a separate entity to the University – and were acquired sometime before 1858.
The Phrenological Society closed in 1886 and items in its collections were transferred to the Department of Anatomy at the University.
The six skulls were given to the Society by Professor W. Byrd Powell (1799-1867), an American physician and strong believer in the 19th century pseudoscience of phrenology.
Powell studied Native American skulls, thinking he could find links between their measurements, intellect and character traits.
A popular theory during the colonial era, phrenology formulated racist theories of inferiority based on the shape and dimensions of a skull.
While it has long since been discredited, ancestral remains taken from communities in order to study this theory still remain in museum collections across the world.
The University of Edinburgh’s Anatomical Museum now cares for approximately 1,000 items that once belonged to the Phrenological Society, including human and zoological skulls, plaster casts and artworks.
While not officially taught as an academic subject at Edinburgh, phrenology was supported by several influential figures, whose connections with the University gave it legitimacy and prestige.
Addressing inequalities
The University continues to examine ways to address its legacy and the contemporary impact of its past.
In 2025, it carried out one of the most ambitious and wide-ranging academically-led examinations of history and race undertaken in the UK.
The result of more than four years of work, findings brought to light confronting and often uncomfortable accounts of its historical ties to slavery and colonialism, the legacy of racist teachings and ideologies, and current challenges around race and inclusion.
The Race Review is now driving sustained and meaningful change at the University, with a response group established to further consider and consult on its recommendations.
The work builds on activity already underway across the institution and includes repatriations of historical remains – an area where the University has a long-established record.
The University’s first repatriation took place more than 75 years ago and is widely considered to represent the first such activity in Scotland.
Most recently, in 2025, the skulls of three Indigenous Ainu people were returned to their community in Japan.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation have shared the following statement from David Hill, Principal Chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation: