This article addresses past and present bioarchaeological practices and human remains management in Quebec; it focuses on the challenges of creating a bioarchaeological database during a two-phase project initiated in 2018–2019 by the Kahnawake Mohawk Council. Its goal was to help Indigenous communities engaged in repatriation and rematriation procedures. Key information regarding human remains’ current location from the 2018 database served as the basis for a second phase in 2021. Of a total of 345 archaeological sites, storage location could only be confirmed for 35% of 228 Indigenous sites compared to 70% of 77 Euro-Canadian sites. Because Ancestors are the legal property of the finder, the landowner, or both, this missing information poses additional challenges to those wishing to initiate repatriation and rematriation claims. Years of non-Indigenous legal and scientific control created layers of colonial assessments. Current populations must rely on archaeological finds to assess whether they are Ancestors’ “legitimate next-of-kin.” In the meantime, Ancestors remain stored. We show how these problems stem from Quebec's colonial archaeological practices and legal frameworks. We then draw on reciprocity-based archaeology to suggest new ways of taking care of Ancestors that respect Indigenous communities’ beliefs and that involve Indigenous communities in caring for their Ancestors.

本文讨论了魁北克过去和现在的生物考古实践和人类遗骸管理；它重点关注卡纳威克莫霍克委员会于 2018 年至 2019 年发起的两阶段项目期间创建生物考古数据库的挑战。其目标是帮助土著社区参与遣返和遣返程序。2018 年数据库中有关人类遗骸当前位置的关键信息是 2021 年第二阶段的基础。在总共 345 个考古遗址中，只能确认 228 个土著遗址中 35% 的存放位置，而 77 个土著遗址中这一比例为 70%欧洲-加拿大网站。由于祖先是发现者、土地所有者或两者的合法财产，这种缺失的信息给那些希望发起遣返和遣返索赔的人带来了额外的挑战。多年的非原住民法律和科学控制创造了多层殖民评估。当前的人口必须依靠考古发现来评估他们是否是祖先的“合法近亲”。与此同时，祖先仍然被存储。我们展示了这些问题如何源于魁北克的殖民考古实践和法律框架。然后，我们利用基于互惠的考古学来提出照顾祖先的新方法，尊重土著社区的信仰，并让土著社区参与照顾他们的祖先。我们展示了这些问题如何源于魁北克的殖民考古实践和法律框架。然后，我们利用基于互惠的考古学来提出照顾祖先的新方法，尊重土著社区的信仰，并让土著社区参与照顾他们的祖先。我们展示了这些问题如何源于魁北克的殖民考古实践和法律框架。然后，我们利用基于互惠的考古学来提出照顾祖先的新方法，尊重土著社区的信仰，并让土著社区参与照顾他们的祖先。