All stories
Cultivating Dragon Fruit’s Political Power in Ecuador
In the Ecuadorian Amazon, an anthropologist explores how the Shuar people are betting on dragon fruit cultivation to reclaim economic autonomy and political sovereignty.
My Errant Uterus
In a time of heightened threats to reproductive rights, a women’s health scholar and mother of two comes face to face with her uterus.
Translation Notes
A translator’s notes are refashioned into a poem calling for justice for Indigenous peoples in the Philippines displaced by a megadam.
Poets Resist, Refuse, and Find a Way Through
In a themed collection, poets trace contours of power to critique colonialism, environmental destruction, and social violence while transforming the landscape of possibilities.
Home-Carrying—A Repatriation Trip to Vanuatu 100 Years in the Making
An anthropologist and poet reflects on a journey of return that tells a larger story about human connection, acts of Indigenous solidarity, and the potential for repair within anthropology.
Living With Parakeets and Other Migrants
Amsterdam, like other European cities, hosts growing populations of non-native parakeets. An anthropologist unpacks what shifting attitudes toward these birds reveal about humans.
Best of SAPIENS 2024
Anthropologists from around the globe brought dazzling insights and deeply reported concerns to the digital pages of SAPIENS magazine.
Unwrapping Operation Christmas Drop
An anthropologist takes a critical eye to a long-running holiday tradition: a U.S. military mission that drops toys and supplies throughout Micronesia.
Survival Notes
Black African women in former colonial centers such as London gesture to subversive ways of communicating with those imprisoned in archives across generations.
Spain’s Move to Decolonize Its Museums Must Continue
In early 2024, Spain’s culture minister announced that the nation would overhaul its state museum collections, igniting a wave of anticipation—and controversy.
El impulso de España para descolonizar sus museos debe continuar
A principios de 2024, el ministro de cultura de España anunció que el país renovaría las colecciones de sus museos estatales, desatando una ola de expectación y controversia.
It’s Time to Replace “Prehistory” With “Deep History”
A team of archaeologists working in Southeast Asia is pushing toward a deeper understanding of history that amplifies Indigenous and local perspectives to challenge traditional archaeological timelines.
An Imagined Monograph for Nongqawuse
A 19th-century prophetess reportedly bore a serious message from the ancestors to her Xhosa people amid British colonial assault. The written archives judged her—but much still remains unknown and unacknowledged.
Phantom Vibrations of a Lost Smartphone
An anthropologist who studies human-computer interactions explores how and why losing one’s smartphone feels so unsettling.
How and When Did Humans First Move Into the Pacific?
New archaeological research reveals insights into the first-known seafarers to brave ocean crossings from Asia to the Pacific Islands more than 50,000 years ago.
Her Dirge
A poet-historian reflects on women’s labor carrying memories and the past.