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17 Dec, 6 tweets, 3 min read
In 1884, Dr. William Osler gifted “four choice...skulls of British Columbian Indians” to a renowned German pathologist. The Star joined the effort to recover the remains of four Indigenous skulls.

The search ended in Berlin a few weeks ago. torstar.co/JYFj50CO5RB
Osler's written recollections were part travel journal, part proud boast of his orbit around one of the greatest doctors in the world.

How it was read 130 years later by two other doctors, was very different. thestar.com/news/investiga…
Dr. @NavPersaud was one of the two doctors trying to track down skulls belonging to Indigenous people that were given away by Osler in 1884. Persaud also noted that Osler (who still has buildings named after him across Canada) had racist views. thestar.com/news/investiga…
Persaud first heard of the skulls in 2018 from Dr. Philip Berger, a mentor. Berger had heard from an Israeli colleague about the gift of skulls. "Osler was viewed as a humanitarian, and humanitarians don’t go giving skulls as gift to a colleague.”

thestar.com/news/investiga…
Who did Osler gift these to? German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who amassed a large, private collection of human skulls and remains. Upon investigation with the two doctors, it appears as if at least two of Indigenous skulls were taken from sacred ground.
thestar.com/news/investiga…
“He did not decide to go to Mount Pleasant Cemetery and take remains of white people to Germany as a present. What he did decide to do is take remains of Indigenous people to Germany as a present to a physician he admired," Berger says.

thestar.com/news/investiga…

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