Repatriation and reburial of human remains  The repatriation and reburial of human remains is a current issue in archaeology, centering on ethical issues and cultural sensitivities regarding human remains of long-deceased ancestors which have ended up in museums and other institutions. Historical trauma as a result of colonialism is often involved. Various indigenous peoples around the world, such as Native Americans and Indigenous Australians, have requested that human remains from their respective communities be repatriated to their local areas and burial sites from various institutions, often in other countries, for reburial. Several requests for repatriation have developed into controversies which sometimes involve court cases, such as the Kennewick Man in the United States. The modern druids' request for the reburial of ancient human remains in the British Isles raised much debate. There is an ongoing program by the Australian government supporting the repatriation of Indigenous peoples' remains from institutions around the world. The controversy arises from the fact that some believe that it is disrespectful to the dead and to their contemporary descendants for their remains to be displayed in a museum or stored in other ways. According to Hubert and Fforde (2002), the first and foremost undercurrent of repatriation is the ill-treatment of people in the past, the repatriation of human remains being to a degree part of a healing process aimed at repairing some of the traumas of history. It is important that this ill-treatment is addressed, but with the repatriation and reburial of remains, they are essentially lost to the world as a reminder of that part of the history or biography of those remains. Repatriation presents an opportunity for people to lay claim to their own past and actively decide what is and what is not a part of their cultural heritage. The basis for the treatment of remains as objects for display and study in museums was that the people were seen as sufficiently "other" that they could be studied without any ethical considerations. The contesting of ownership of human remains and demands of return to cultural groups is largely fuelled by the difference in the handling of "white" and indigenous remains. Where the former were reburied, the latter were subjects of study, eventually ending up in museums. In a sense one cultural group assumed the right to carry out scientific research upon another cultural group This disrespectful and unequal treatment stems from a time when race and cultural differences had huge social implications, and centuries of inequality cannot be easily corrected. Repatriation and ownership claims have increased in recent years. The “traumas of history” can be addressed by reconciliation, repatriation and formal governmental apologies disapproving of conducts in the past by the institutions they now represent.