Letter to the editor

Every picture tells a story

Don Corbeil June 9, 2008 From the print edition
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  I think that HCN could have exercised better judgment with the cover photo for the story "Pillaging the Past" (HCN, 4/28/08). I see a conflict between the use of that particular image and the contents of Childs' article. Pillaging isn't just about removing objects -- it's also about respect for them. Placing human remains on the front cover of your magazine shows a level of indifference that can easily perpetuate the idea of Native remains as "specimens" rather than people -- as Childs observed in the article. I personally would not want to see one of my ancestors plastered on the front cover of any newspaper. I hope that you try a little harder in the future to choose photos that support the positions of the articles you print.

Don Corbeil
Fruita, Utah

HCN Editor Jonathan Thompson discusses why we chose a photograph of a human skull for the cover of the April 28 issue. Please see blog.hcn.org/goat for his explanation, and feel free to add your own thoughts to the discussion.
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