October 3, 2005 Source: Lakehead University:
http://communications.lakeheadu.ca/news/?id=203 Sociology Professor Wins Canadian Law and Society Association Award (Thunder Bay – October 3, 2005) A Sociology professor has won an award for a research paper written on memory and the legal system. Dr. Rachel Ariss, Assistant Professor in Sociology, won the Canadian Law and Society Association’s Best English Language Article 2003/2004 from the, for her article entitled "'Bring out Your Dead': Law, Human Remains and Memory" (Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 2004, 19: 33-54). "Memory is primarily valued in the Canadian and American legal systems as an evidence tool and object," Dr. Ariss says. "However, remembering is seen as a moral and cultural act among anthropologists. This article examines historical and contemporary cases and statutes involving the treatment of dead bodies in search of legal recognition of memory as a ‘moral practice.’ The contemporary cases analyzed found indignities committed to human bodies as affronts to their memory." Dr. Ariss adds that the United States’ Native American Graves and Repatriation Act has been interpreted so as to recognize connections between the worlds of the living and the dead. "However, Ontario’s Cemeteries Act, which sets procedures for managing all unmarked graves, has been interpreted so as to exclude Aboriginal views of connections between the living and the dead. Legal recognition of memory of the dead in these cases does open an avenue for justice claims, but it is a narrow one. This article was also one of the articles discussed during a recent meeting of the Technologies of the Afterlife Working Group, hosted by Lakehead University’s Technoculture Lab. For more information, contact Dr. Ariss directly by calling 343-8792.
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