When the bureau’s Art Theft Program teamed up with a cultural anthropologist to investigate one man’s private collection, they began a yearslong project to return cultural objects and human remains to their rightful homes.

As stars around the world petition Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to protect Indigenous peoples from the COVID-19 pandemic, anthropologists debate whether the call for action reproduces longstanding racist claims.

Controversial new archaeological research casts doubt on a classic theory of this famous island’s societal collapse.

The Associated Press Stylebook and The Chicago Manual of Style do not capitalize the term Indigenous when it is used to refer to people. But SAPIENS does. The editorial team explains why.

Like smoky spirals, two cultures weave together in a SAPIENS contest-winning poem by an anthropologist who worked with Sámi reindeer herders in the Arctic Circle.

On California’s San Miguel Island, seals and sea lions are taking a heavy toll on the area’s cultural treasures.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States government used family separation and schools to try to erase Native American children’s traditional cultures and languages. A newly published archive of photographs visually documents some Indigenous peoples’ struggle for survival.

In South America, countries struggle to protect traditional uses of coca while decreasing its currency in the addiction- and crime-addled cocaine trade.

A company’s appropriation of an Indigenous ritual highlights the power of businesses to destroy traditions, community ties, and ecosystems.

SAPIENS’ editorial team presents a roundup of this year’s top news and other important insights as seen through the lens of anthropology.