Houston Museum of Natural Science: Greedy, or Steward of Ethiopia?

Everyone is jumping on the reunion tour bandwagon these days, and the paleontologists greedy museum directors of the world are not to be left out of the mix. Lucy, the famous (if you prefer science over Hollywood) 3.2-million-year-old fossil, is going on tour too. She's got some contentious bones. The original set of fossils--representing the oldest, most intact human ancestor--has been swept out of Ethiopia, where she was supposed to stay in perpetuity, and is on a series of visits to museums across the country. It all starts with the Houston Museum of Natural Science, who apparently convinced the Ethiopian government (or at least some part of it), that her bones were in good enough shape to travel. The Smithsonian is boycotting the tour, protesting the removal and transport of her tired old bones, saying they really aren't up to the trip and copies should have been used instead.

While our colleagues in Houston wonder "whether the public might actually learn something about early human history from Lucy's exhibition," we're with the Smithsonian on this one. Unlike old, fragile museum pieces of art, Lucy is still an active scientific subject, despite her deadness. As Slate points out, there's still research that can be done with her frail old bones. We thought of a treasure near and dear to our country's heart--the Declaration of Independence--and how, when it has gone on tour, solely copies have been used. (In some cases, "rare original copies" were used, a phrase which will make our brain hurt for at least a few days.) And then we ran across this:

The International Association for the Study of Human Paleontology, a group affiliated with UNESCO, passed a resolution in 1998 saying such fossils shouldn't be moved outside the country of origin. The resolution, unanimously approved by representatives of 20 countries, including Ethiopia and the United States, said replicas should be used for public display.

The US is getting so good at ignoring international agreements.

What the hell does this have to do with Seattle, you ask? Well, we smell the Houston Museum's plan all the way out here, and it stinks of increased admissions sales. They're throwing a VIP party featuring "all things Ethiopian from music to food and coffee from Starbucks." Yep, because when we think of "Ethiopia’s rich cultural heritage...one of the best-kept secrets in the world," in the words of the Houston Museum director, Starbucks is the first thing to come to mind.