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.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Every picture tells a story.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
