The blood ha emains: ca d collec ions om he
colonial an h opological missions
RICARDO ROQUE*
Abs ac . In his pape I discuss he his o y o colonial collec ions h ough a ocus on he social
li e o a se o blood g oup ca ds held by Po uguese ins i u ions since he 1950s. Be ween he
1940s and 1960s, a se ies o an h opological field expedi ions we e o ganized by he
Po uguese O e seas Science Resea ch Boa d o he hen Po uguese colonies in A ica and
Asia. A la ge numbe o samples o indigenous blood we e collec ed on blood g oup pape
ca ds in he cou se o hese campaigns. The ca ds we e hen s o ed in Po ugal and used o
acial se ological s udies un il he 1980s. The ea e , he collec ion su i ed a ious ins i u-
ional dea hs. Th oughou i s pos -colonial exis ence in Po uguese ins i u ions, he ca ds
seem o ha e mo ed ambi alen ly be ween a condi ion o alued asse and one o obsole e
ma e ial. And ye hey e ealed a esilien capaci y o media e concep ions o his o ical
ime. Thus he essay asks wha i migh mean o app oach hese collec ions as colonial
‘ch ono ope’–de ices o connec ing space and ime –and how and why hey endu ed
h ough a ious ends, culmina ing as a gene ically con amina ed museum objec .
This essay explo es he his o ici y o colonial collec ions by acing he social li e o a se
o blood g oup ca ds cu en ly held in a Po uguese museum ins i u ion. I d aw on a ch-
i al eco ds, e hnog aphic encoun e s and in e iews o analyse how hese collec ions
media e ela ionships be ween he pas , p esen and u u e o colonial empi e,
* Ins i u o de Ciências Sociais, Uni e sidade de Lisboa, Po ugal. Email: [email p o ec ed].p .
An ea lie e sion o his pape was p esen ed a he How Collec ions End wo kshop in Camb idge in 2017
and a he FOLK con e ence in Oslo in 2018. I hank he o ganize s and he pa icipan s o commen s and
ema ks on he ea lie e sion. Resea ch o his essay was unded by FCT, Fundação pa a a Ciência e
Tecnologia, Po ugal (g an e e ence PTDC/HAR-HIS/28577/2017). I am g a e ul o Luís Sou o de
Mi anda, Helena Mo ei a, Ví o Rosado Ma ques and Ma ia C is ina Ne o o gene ously sha ing hei
knowledge, memo ies and expe iences; o Ri a Poloni and Cláudia Cas elo o sha ing esea ch ma e ials; o
Ana Canas, di ec o o he A qui o His ó ico Ul ama ino, and s a a chi is s, especially João San os and
Ca a ina Ma eus, o suppo in accessing he documen s o he an h opological missions; and o Susana
Ga cia, Ma a Lou enço and Ca a ina Teixei a o esea ch access o he collec ions o he Na ional
Museum o Na u al His o y and Science. Ana Ri a Ama al, Ped o Ca dim, Claúdia Cas elo, Ma a
Lou enço, Ví o Rosado Ma ques, Rica do Mo ei a and he edi o s o he special issue, Jenny Bangham,
Emma Kowal and Bo is Ja dine, ead ea lie e sions and p o ided insigh ul commen s and co ec ions.
Thanks finally o he anonymous e iewe s o BJHS Themes o hei impo an commen s. All emaining
impe ec ions a e my esponsibili y. All ansla ions om Po uguese in o English a e mine. This esea ch
has benefi ed om he use o he in as uc u e o PRISC (Po uguese Resea ch In as uc u e o Scien ific
Collec ions).
BJHS: Themes 4:29–53, 2019. ©B i ish Socie y o he His o y o Science 2019. This is an Open
Access a icle, dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion-NonComme cial-
NoDe i a i es licence (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which pe mi s non-
comme cial e-use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is
unal e ed and is p ope ly ci ed. The w i en pe mission o Camb idge Uni e si y P ess mus be
ob ained o comme cial e-use o in o de o c ea e a de i a i e wo k.
doi:10.1017/bj .2019.1 Fi s published online 25 July 2019
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an h opological sciences and he li es o hei human keepe s and use s. To ask ‘how col-
lec ions end’is o ask also how collec ions endu e, and how hey ail o endu e.
Collec ions can each an end, I hypo hesize he e, when hey cease o gi e flesh o, o
cease o become agen s o , o ms and concep ions o his o ical ime. Thus concei ed, sci-
en ificcollec ions–including collec ions ha encapsula e his o ies o colonialism and
acialism –can e eal conside able esilience. In ecen yea s, in e es in he p oblem o
his o ici y/ies has inc eased in his o y and an h opology. His o ians o science and medi-
cine a e calling a en ion o how bioma e ials ob ained in he colonial e a a icula e ime in
di e en ways and o ms: in associa ed a chi al documen a ion, in echnologies o c yo-
p ese a ion, in na a i es o colonial iolence and epa ia ion, o in dis inc e hical
egimes and a ied (and some imes conflic ing) scien ific and indigenous pos -colonial
euses.
1
Signalling he ‘ques ion o empo ali y’, Emma Kowal, Joanna Radin and Jenny
Rea don ha e called a en ion o he unin ended ‘mu a ing empo ali ies’o collec ions,
associa ed wi h scien ific p ac ices and eezing echnologies.
2
These an h opological
and science-s udies conce ns ela e (al hough no always explici ly) o eflec ions on he pe -
sis ence o impe ial o ma ions in colonial s udies. In his field, a c i ical his o y o impe ial
‘legacies’,o a‘ eflexi e an h opology’o he ‘modes o p esence o he [colonial] pas ’,is
also gaining ac ion.
3
Engaging wi h he no ion o uin, o ins ance, Ann Lau a S ole
p omp ed schola s o add ess he du abili y o impe ial and acial egimes by u ning a en-
ion o ‘wha emains … o he ma e ial and social a e li e o s uc u es, sensibili ies, and
hings’, and he ways people ‘li e wi h’ he es iges ha colonial empi es ha e le behind.
4
This a icle ex ends his schola ship o p opose a way o seeing a ace o Po uguese
impe ial science –app oxima ely 16,000 d y samples o indigenous blood on pape
ca ds collec ed du ing field expedi ions in he 1950s –as a colonial ‘ch ono ope’.
5
In
he humani ies and social sciences he e m ‘ch ono ope’was fi s gi en wide applica-
ion as a me apho o ime–space connec edness by li e a y schola Mikhail Bakh in.
6
Al hough he e m was used o iginally in he s udy o li e a y phenomena, i can be
1 Compa e, o example, Rica do Roque, ‘S o ies, skulls, and colonial collec ions’,Configu a ions (2011)
19, pp. 1–23; Jenny Bangham, ‘Blood, pape and o al human gene ic di e si y’,Limn (2016) 6, a h ps://
limn.i /blood-pape -and- o al-human-gene ic-di e si y, accessed 2 Feb ua y 2018; Joanna Radin, Li e on
Ice: A His o y o New Uses o Cold Blood, Chicago: The Uni e si y o Chicago P ess, 2017; Joanna Radin
and Emma Kowal (eds.), C yopoli ics: F ozen Li e in a Mel ing Wo ld, Camb idge, MA: The MIT P ess,
2017; Radin and Kowal, ‘Indigenous blood and e hical egimes in he Uni ed S a es and Aus alia since he
1960s’,Ame ican E hnologis (2015) 42(4), pp. 749–765.
2 Emma Kowal, Joanna Radin and Jenny Rea don, ‘Indigenous body pa s, mu a ing empo ali ies, and he
hal -li es o pos colonial echnoscience’,Social S udies o Science (2013), 43(4), pp. 465–483. See also Amade
M’cha ek, ‘Race, ime and olded objec s: he HeLa e o ?’,Theo y, Cul u e and Socie y (2014) 31, 6, pp. 29–56.
3 Benoî de l’Es oile, ‘The pas as i li es now: an an h opology o colonial legacies’,Social An h opology
(2008) 16, pp. 267–279, 279.
4 Ann L. S ole , ‘Impe ial deb is: eflec ions on uins and uina ion’,Cul u al An h opology (2008) 23(2),
pp. 191–219, 194. See also S ole , Du ess: Impe ial Du abili ies in Ou Times, Du ham, NC: Duke Uni e si y
P ess, 2016.
5 This numbe is an es ima e based on p elimina y in o ma ion p o ided o he au ho by he Lisbon
Museum o Na u al His o y and Science.
6 Bakh in’s o iginal no ion was adap ed om physics. Mikhail Bakh in, ‘Fo ms o ime and o he
ch ono ope in he no el’, in Bakh in, The Dialogic Imagina ion: Fou Essays by M. M. Bakh in, Aus in:
Uni e si y o Texas P ess, 1981, pp. 84–258.
30 Rica do Roque
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mo e widely explo ed as a me apho o app oaching ime and space as a ‘conc e e
whole’; he e ime is a usion ha ‘ hickens, akes on flesh’in ma e ial space and ma e ial
objec s.
7
My o mula ion o he colonial ch ono ope emphasizes his usion zone
be ween na a i e and ma e iali y. I concep ualize he no ion o he colonial ch ono ope
as a plas ic configu a ion o pas s, p esen s and u u es o empi e, ace, science and colo-
niali y ha akes ma e ial exis ence in he o m o ‘scien ific collec ions’. Thus concei ed,
colonial ch ono opes cons i u e o ms o empo ali y ha exis in collec ions and in he
people, ins i u ions and imagina ies wi h which hey become associa ed. Human ac ions
and unde s andings shape hese p ocesses. Bu so oo does he ma e iali y o he collec-
ions. Hence a collec ion’s colonial ch ono ope is no simply a unc ion o he na a i es,
insc ip ions, sensibili ies and social ela ions ha ac on he ma e ials, and o which he
la e a e connec ed o e ime. The ma e ials ha cons i u e he collec ions also ac upon
hei spa io empo al a angemen s, and may co-p oduce hei own ch ono opes.
My his o y o he blood g oup ca ds is he s o y o collec ions ha pe sis ed whils
unde going c i ical endings and changes in hei associa ed empo al imagina ies and agen-
cies –including in he ma e iali y o he eco ds hemsel es. I a gue ha he pe sis ence o
hese collec ions is en ailed in he pe sis ence o a plas ic and mul iple colonial ch ono ope.
He e, I ega d he ca d collec ions as in insically ch ono opic agen s cha ged wi h concep-
ions, na a i es, a ec s and imagina ies o ime in connec ion o empi e, ace and science.
A hei o igin, he blood g oup ca ds we e ime–spaces upon which colonial na a i es o
an impe ial and ‘mul i acial’communi y we e buil , and also we e agen s imbued wi h he
capaci y o ansla e pe cei ed p imi i e indigenous acial pas s in o pe cei ed u u es o
Po uguese impe ial so e eign y and scien ific mode ni y. The ca ds wen on o become
a mul i ace ed ime–space o hei colonial scien ific condi ion. I in end o ollow how
he ca ds as colonial ch ono ope eme ged, changed and endu ed o e he decades –e en
as he Po uguese empi e anished and e en as he heo ies, ac o s and ins i u ions ha
we e a hei o igin changed o e en ended. In his p ocess, he colonial ch ono ope did
no simply die; ins ead, i unde wen se e al mu a ions and became mani old. I also
a gue ha he e y socioma e ial his o ici y o he collec ions has been in e e ing wi h
he colonial cons uc s in which hey ha e been apped o so long. The e y physical
in imacy o he esea che s wi h he ca ds led o hei ‘con amina ion’in gene ic e ms
and hence hei con empo a y obsolescence, bu i also led o a complex configu a ion
o blood, pape , wo ds and DNA aces ha in oduce no el ensions in he colonial ch on-
o opia o he collec ions. I hus conclude by sugges ing ha in emb acing he ‘con ami-
na ed’p esen o he blood a chi e –beyond fixa ion on he u u e and beyond impu i y
as a p oblem –one may pa e he way o a c i ique o he ca ds as colonial ch ono ope,
and poin o an al e na i e pos colonial significance o he collec ions.
Colonial ch ono ope
‘I el he g ea es joy when I saw he ex ensi e and in ensi e esea ches … ha a e being
cu en ly unde aken by he an h opological mission led by M . P o . An ónio de
7 Bakh in, op. ci . (6), pp. 84–85.
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Almeida. The mission has assembled eno mous and in e es ing ma e ials.’
8
Thus in
1954, upon his e u n om a b ie isi o he Po uguese colony o Eas Timo , he influ-
en ial physical an h opologis An ónio Mendes Co eia (1888–1960), p esiden o he
Jun a de In es igações do Ul ama (JIU) (O e seas Science Resea ch Boa d, o me ly
Jun a das Missões de In es igações Geog áficas e Coloniais, Boa d o Colonial
Resea ch and Geog aphical Missions, c ea ed in 1936), e alua ed he achie emen s
and u u e po en ial o he Timo an h opological mission, he fieldwo k expedi ion
headed by his pupil and ellow an h opologis , medical doc o An ónio de Almeida
(1900–1984). Almeida’sfield campaign in Timo was he final chap e in a se ies o
simila s a e-sponso ed ‘colonial an h opological missions’, including his own ‘an h o-
pobiological mission’ o Angola. By he 1950s, he Po uguese colonial empi e s ill
included as po ions o land in con inen al A ica (Angola and Mozambique) and a
ew sca e ed colonial e i o ies in Asia (Eas Timo , Goa, Macau) and Wes A ica
(San Tome, Cape Ve de, Guinea Bissau). In 1951 he Po uguese impe ial go e nmen
in oduced he o ical changes ha elimina ed e e ences o ‘colonies’and he ‘colonial
empi e’wi h a iew o con eying he idea o ‘na ional in eg a ion’. Hence he o me
‘colonies’in A ica and Asia me ely changed name and we e econcep ualized as ‘o e -
seas p o inces’, in eg al o he Po uguese na ion, in an a emp o he o ically adjus o
he new winds o pos -wa an i-colonialism.
The model o an h opological missions, fi s p oposed by Mendes Co eia ( hen p o-
esso o an h opology a Po o Uni e si y) in he ea ly 1930s (also p esumably inspi ed
by compa able con empo a y an h opological ‘missions’in F ench colonial A ica), was
quickly emb aced by he Po uguese impe ial s a e.
9
Be ween 1936 and 1960, an h opo-
logical missions we e launched o Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau and Eas Timo ,
wi h he o ficial suppo o he JIU, he s a e depa men in cha ge o implemen ing he
policy o ‘scien ific occupa ion’o Po ugal’s colonies du ing Salaza ’s ascis Es ado
No o egime. Wi h ega d o he missions, Co eia’s hopes o he ‘s udy o popula ion
and he u u e o [Po ugal’s] O e seas’concen a ed on he quan i y and quali y o he
an h opological collec ions ob ained in he colonies and b ough o Lisbon and Opo o
o la e s udy.
10
Co eia’s p aise o he collec ions and impending esul s o he Timo
an h opological mission also ex ended o he many ma e ials assembled by his acoly es
in o he colonies. Wi h he suppo o he local colonial adminis a ions, he field eams
collec ed a mul i ude o da a ha hey p esumed had aciological significance: an h opo-
me ic measu emen s, an h opological pho og aphs, blood g oup de e mina ions, de -
ma oglyphs, psycho echnic ques ionnai es and a dispa a e a ay o a chaeological,
8 An ónio Mendes Co eia, ‘Um Mês em Timo : Pales as na Emisso a Nacional, na Sé ie “A Ciência ao
Se iço da Humanidade”em 26 de Fe e ei o, 5, 12 e 26 de Ma ço, 2 e 9 de Ab il de 1955’,Bole im da
Sociedade de Geog afia de Lisboa (1955) 73(4–6), pp. 173–192, 179.
9 Léon Palès’smission an h opologique de l’A ique occiden ale ançaise o 1945–1951 would be emula ed
by Mendes Co eia as a model, in his la e de ence o he Po uguese expedi ions. See A.A. Mendes Co eia, ‘O
es udo das populações e o u u o do Ul ama ,’Bole im da Sociedade de Geog afia de Lisboa (1951) 69(7–8),
pp. 1–28, 20.
10 Co eia, op. ci . (9), p. 15.
32 Rica do Roque
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linguis ic and sociocul u al eco ds on pape , ape and film, including ‘p ehis o ic’
chipped s ones.
These ma e ials cohe ed wi hin Co eia’s wide- anging esea ch p og amme, o igin-
ally g ounded on he F ench adi ion o an h opology a e Paul B oca –an encyclope-
dic mul idisciplina y inqui y in o human ( acial) di e si y, unde he command o
physical an h opology. Co eia’s p og amme o esea ch in he colonies encompassed
physical an h opology, a chaeology and e hnog aphy, he las wo as subsidia y discip-
lines o he fi s . Specifically ega ding physical an h opology, Mendes Co eia was
o ien ed by a e ashioned o m o acial science ha he i led ‘an h opobiology’.
11
An h opobiology, he w o e in 1933, encompassed classical an h opome ics and
acial axonomy, bu also esea ch on ‘o he subjec s o human biochemis y, cons i u-
ions and empe amen s, he de e mina ion o he biological basis and ac i i y o he di -
e en aces, e c.’
12
A comp omise be ween ‘old’ echniques (such as an h opome y,
which he claimed should no be abandoned) and no el esea ch me hods (such as
blood g oup s udies) was pa o Co eia’s singula a emp o emain ai h ul o he
ene s o acial axonomy whils also emb acing eme ging endencies –a de ensi e eac-
ion, pe haps, o he in e na ional ends in e olu iona y heo y and o he c i iques o
acial ypology ha we e o lead o he ‘new physical an h opology’in he 1950s.
13
In
ac , al hough Mendes Co eia and he expedi ions’leade s occasionally e oked
human biology and discussed demog aphy, e olu ion and a ia ion, he an h opobiolo-
gical science o he missions, s ubbo nly a ached o na ionalis ic ideals o Po ugal’s
impe ial so e eign y, emained la gely subsidia y o an old-s yle desc ip i e o m o
ypological and e hnogenic inqui y.
Es ablished in 1936 wi h he c ea ion o he JIU, he colonial an h opological missions
ma e ialized a new ‘so ’ o m o Po uguese impe ial so e eign y based on he no ion o
‘scien ific occupa ion’.
14
The concep gained u he geopoli ical impo ance a e he
Second Wo ld Wa when Po ugal’s obs inacy o e ain i s colonies became inc easingly
con es ed in e na ionally and, finally, became he objec o mili a y opposi ion by
A ican libe a ion mo emen s. Thus a blend o an iqua ed and mo e ashionable bio-
an h opological echniques, including an h opome y and blood g oup s udies, com-
posed he appa a us o he ‘an h opological missions’in he 1940s–1950s. Ye hese
11 Co eia, op. ci . (8), pp. 19–20. See also An ónio Mendes Co eia, In odução ao Es udo da
An opobiologia, Coimb a: Imp ensa da Uni e sidade de Coimb a, 1933. Co eia was he fi s in Po ugal
(pe haps inspi ed by o eign uses) o apply his e m which was la e aken up by An ónio de Almeida and
his ollowe s. I seems he exp ession was used in e na ionally by he 1950s, o e e o a o m o
an h opology conce ned wi h he biological s udy o humans. The e m oday can s ill define a o m o
human biology o a ‘b anch o an h opology’ ha s udies humans as a biological species in a wide sense
(including gene ics).
12 Co eia, op. ci . (11), p. 18. He had eph ased his defini ion in he ea ly 1950s: Co eia, op. ci . (9),
pp. 19–20.
13 Fo o e iews see Pe e T. Ellison, ‘The e olu ion o physical an h opology’,Ame ican Jou nal o
Physical An h opology (2018) 165, pp. 615–625; Michael A. Li le, ‘Human popula ion biology in he
second hal o he wen ie h cen u y’,Cu en An h opology (2012) 53(S5), pp. S126–S138.
14 See Cláudia Cas elo, ‘In es igação cien ífica e polí ica colonial po uguesa: e olução e a iculações,
1936–1974’,His ó ia, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos (2012) 19(2), pp. 391–408.
The blood ha emains 33
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we e, o we e supposed o be, ul ima ely aciological inqui ies. They we e also inhe en ly
colonial and na ionalis ic knowledge endea ou s, exp essing a poli ical in es men in he
main enance and su i al o Po ugal’s impe ial g andeu in an age o g owing an i-colo-
nial and an i- acis ideologies. Fo hei ounding a he , Mendes Co eia, he missions
we e he ul ima e inca na ion o he p inciple o ‘scien ific occupa ion’.‘I is al eady
commonplace’, he s a ed in 1945, whils explaining he a ionale o he eme ging s a e
agenda o he an h opological missions, ‘ o a fi m ha a e he poli ical and mili a y
occupa ions i is indispensable o con inue in ensely in he scien ific occupa ion o ou
colonies.’
15
An h opology field s udies we e a con inua ion o mili a y and poli ical
occupa ion by o he , scien ific, means; consequen ly hei esul ing collec ions o da a
we e he ma e ha made empi e’s so e eign y angible and mani es . The missions
we e also a p omise o biopoli ical in e en ion. S udies o he acial di e si y and bio-
logical i ali y o indigenous peoples we e in ended o in o m mo e e ficien colonial
adminis a ion o indigenous popula ions and a mo e p oduc i e ‘use’o he ‘na i es’
in he colonial labou economies.
16
The colonial an h opologis s’fixa ion wi h he ‘eno mous and in e es ing ma e ials
assembled’was impo an and ecu en –and his is a poin I would like o emphasize.
One eason o his was ha he collec ions embodied ce ain isions o ime, poli ical
so e eign y and epis emic p ospe i y wi h ega d o science and empi e. F om he nine-
een h cen u y o he 1950s, he ancien impe ial pas – he so-called glo ious Age o
Disco e ies in he six een h cen u y, when ma i ime en u es in Asia, A ica and he
Ame icas placed Po ugal in a singula posi ion as a wo ld powe –was s ill e e en ial
o he Po uguese na ionalis imagina ion, especially du ing Salaza ’s egime.
17
As
ega ds he missions, howe e , he p ima y e e ence was no he pas , bu a
Po uguese empi e o be ealized in an immedia e u u e h ough he agency o an h opo-
logical da a ex ac ed om he bodies o indigenous people. The an h opome ic ables,
pho og aphs, blood g oup ca ds and so o h we e seen as pa hways o bio-an h opo-
logical knowledge abou human e hnogenesis and di e si y; hey we e also pe cei ed
as pa hways o a mul i acial communi y ha , in he impe ial na ionalis c edo, p omised
o e e nize a glo ious his o y o impe ial p ospe i y and g andeu .
18
Possessing such
‘eno mous and in e es ing ma e ials’an icipa ed a golden age o empi e and ace
science, a u u e he an h opologis s p efigu ed in he pape , ape, film and ma e ial
eco ds o he expedi ions.
The colonial an h opologis s’ iumphan isions o he p esen and u u e weal h o
he assembled da a e ol ed s ongly, hough no exclusi ely, a ound he ca d samples o
15 Mendes Co eia, ‘Missões An opológicas às Colónias’,Jo nal do Médico (1945) 7(149), pp. 3–10, 3.
16 Mendes Co eia, Plano de Es udos An opológicos Coloniais, 12 Ma ch 1941, Lisbon, A qui o
His ó ico do IICT/Uni e sidade de Lisboa (he ea e AHIICT-UL), Espólio das Missões An opológicas,
P ocesso 150.
17 Po uguese schola ship on he opic is conside able bu see, o example, Ma ia Isabel João, Memó ia e
impé io: comemo ações em Po ugal (1889–1960), Lisbon: Fundação Calous e Gulbenkian, 2002.
18 See Rica do Roque, ‘The acial science o pa io ic p imi i es: An ónio Mendes Co eia in Po uguese
Timo ’, in Wa wick Ande son, Rica do Roque and Rica do Ven u a San os (eds.), Luso- opicalism and I s
Discon en s: The Making and Unmaking o Racial Excep ionalism, Ox o d: Be ghahn, 2019, pp. 159–183.
34 Rica do Roque
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ABO blood g oups. Se ology, which by he 1950s was conside ed a p omising comple-
men a y me hod o disc imina ing a fini ies and di e ences among human aces,
figu ed impo an ly in he field me hods o he missions. Fi s es ablished in he ea ly
1900s, he classifica ion o human blood ypes in o A, B, AB and O (known as he
ABO sys em) d ama ically expanded he clinical uses o blood ans usion, and came
o configu e one o he fi s applica ions o he p inciples o Mendelian gene ic inhe i -
ance in humans. An h opologis s soon applied se ological me hodologies and ca ego ies
o acial analysis.
19
Like his an h opological coun e pa s in Eu ope and he US, Mendes
Co eia ega ded se ology as a alid p ocedu e in he s udy o human aces and in-
co po a ed i in o he cons i u i e pa aphe nalia o colonial an h opobiology: ‘mean-
while, i is alid oday’, he decla ed in 1933, ‘ o g ound upon he knowledge o blood
g oups a new aspec o he s udy o cons i u ions and aces’.
20
In Eu ope and elsewhe e,
se ological li e a u e on he connec ions be ween blood ypes, ace and na ionali y g ew
exponen ially in he in e wa yea s ed by he winds o na ionalism and scien ific
acism.
21
A e he Second Wo ld Wa , blood g oup esea ch con inued o g ow.
Na ional blood ans usion se ices expanded whils he collec ing and s udy o
human blood a ac ed new in e na ional biological esea ch on human di e si y, e olu-
ion and a iabili y. In he 1950s, o example, whils he las mission o Angola and he
fi s Timo an h opological mission we e launched, in e es in blood g oup dis ibu ions
was a an in e na ional peak.
22
Massi e blood collec ing om emo e o so-called
‘p imi i e’indigenous peoples also became globally significan in he ligh o eme ging
human biology p og ammes o biomedical esea ch, e olu iona y heo y, ecology and
ea ly gene ics esea ch in he pos -wa e a.
23
Hence in he 1950s–1970s con ex ,
19 See Jenny Bangham, ‘Blood-g oups and he ise o human gene ics in mid- wen ie h-cen u y B i ain’, PhD
disse a ion in his o y o science, Uni e si y o Camb idge, 2014; Bangham, ‘Wha is ace? UNESCO, mass
communica ion and human gene ics in he ea ly 1950s’,His o y o he Human Sciences (2015) 28(5),
pp. 80–107.
20 Co eia, op. ci . (9), p. 31.
21 ‘The an h opological uses o he se ological disco e ies began in mos coun ies’, w i es Schneide , ‘as an
e o o find a mo e “scien ific”defini ion o ace based on di e ing dis ibu ion o blood ypes.’See William
Schneide , ‘Blood g oup esea ch in G ea B i ain, F ance, and he Uni ed S a es be ween he Wo ld Wa s’,
Ame ican Jou nal o Physical An h opology (1995) 98(4), pp. 87–114, 87. See also Pauline Mazumda ,
‘Blood and soil: he se ology o he A yan acial s a e’,Bulle in o he His o y o Medicine (1990) 64,
pp. 187–219. Jenni e Robe son, ‘Hema o-na ionalism: he pas , p esen , and u u e o “Japanese blood”’,
Medical An h opology (2012) 31(2), pp. 93–112.
22 On he global significance o blood g oup esea ch in his pe iod compa e Jenny Bangham, ‘Blood g oups
and human g oups: collec ing and calib a ing gene ic da a a e Wo ld Wa Two’,S udies in His o y and
Philosophy o Biological and Biomedical Sciences (2014) 47, pp. 74–86; Elise Bu on, ‘Essen ial
collabo a o s: loca ing Middle Eas e n gene icis s in he global scien ific in as uc u e, 1950s–1970s’,
Compa a i e S udies in Socie y and His o y (2018) 60(1), pp. 119–149; P oji Mukha ji, ‘F om se osocial
o sanguina y iden i ies: cas e, ansna ional ace science and he shi ing me onymies o blood g oup B,
India, c.1918–1960’,Indian Economic and Social His o y Re iew (2014) 51(2), pp. 143–176.
23 See Susan Lindee and Rica do Ven u a San os (eds.), The Biological An h opology o Li ing Human
Popula ions: Wo ld His o ies, Na ional S yles, and In e na ional Ne wo ks, special issue o Cu en
An h opology (2012) 53(S5); Jenny Bangham and So aya de Chada e ian (eds.), Human He edi y a e
1945: Mo ing Popula ions Cen e S age, special issue o S udies in His o y and Philosophy o Biological
and Biomedical Sciences (2014) 47.
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al hough la gely isola ed om hese global p og ammes and amed by p e-wa no ions
o ace and ‘old’physical an h opology, he massi e bioda a on he empi e’s‘indigenous
ibes’ex ac ed by he Po uguese expedi ions may ha e come o unin en ionally fi in
he in e na ional alue hen g an ed o blood and o he bioda a om ‘p imi i e’indigen-
ous peoples.
Be ween he 1940s and 1960, colonial blood collec ing in he Po uguese empi e was
in i s heyday. Fieldwo k campaigns in he Po uguese colonies esul ed in ‘ housands o
obse a ions on indi iduals o a ied ibes’ob ained in si u in he o m o esh samples,
bu also ob ained in he o m o indi idual ‘Sano es ’pape ca ds. A d op o blood om
an indigenous dono and an i-se a o ABO de e mina ion we e mixed oge he on
he ca d, hei pa e ns o agglu ina ion e ealing he blood g oup o he sou ce. The
blood was collec ed on ca ds in acco dance wi h ca ego ies o ‘ ibes’o (inc easingly
om he ea ly 1950s) o so-called ‘e hnic’o ‘e hno-linguis ic g oups’. In pos -wa phys-
ical an h opology, pa ly in eac ion o he associa ion o ‘ ace’wi h ‘ acism’, he
e m ‘e hnic g oup’was hen used as ei he subsidia y o, in e changeable wi h o
e en a eplacemen o he no ion o ‘ ace’.
24
Simila ly, in he 1950s and beyond, he
Po uguese an h opobiologis s’ex ensi e use o he no ion o ‘e hnic g oup’in collec ing,
a anging and classi ying he blood samples became a p oxy o ‘ ace’. Hence he ca ds
con aining d ied blood/se a cohabi ed wi h ‘e hnic g oup’ca ego ies, he name o indi-
iduals and he classifica ion o blood g oups. In con as wi h o he blood collec ing
p og ammes a ound he same his o ical pe iod (especially om he la e 1950s), he
esh samples ex ac ed in he expedi ions we e no p ese ed as collec ions; only he
pape ca ds wi h d ied blood o ABO blood g oup de e mina ion we e kep .
25
The use o ca ds allowed quick mass collec ing o blood g oup esul s in he field,
whils o e ing easily anspo able and manageable samples o la e labo a o y classi-
fica ion and s a is ical analysis.
26
By he la e 1950s, excep o he missions in
Mozambique (whe e a di e en collec ing me hod o ABO blood g oups was ollowed),
he numbe o ca d samples amoun ed o a ound se en housand om Angola and se en
housand om Timo , pe haps fi e hund ed om San Tome and 1,400 om Guinea
Bissau, and a ew hund ed mo e om Macau. In con as wi h esh samples, blood
ca ds could be accumula ed, s o ed and manipula ed as small pape files o u he s a -
is ical and classifica o y analysis, wi hou he need o eso o complex and expensi e
e ige a ion echnologies. Consequen ly, human blood li e ally became a pape a chi e.
Blood ca ds s ood ou as ma e ial embodimen s o he p omises o colonial ace
science. They encapsula ed an imagina y o poli ical possession and epis emic alue, p o-
pelling Po uguese impe ial and scien ific empo ali ies owa ds he u u e. Like many
an h opological collec ions, colonial collec ions o blood ca ds we e iewed as
24 See, o example, ‘S a emen on ace: Pa is July 1950’,inFou S a emen s on he Race Ques ion, Pa is:
UNESCO, 1969, pp. 30–36.
25 In ac collec ions o blood samples began only in he la e 1950s, when se um p o eins could be analysed
om hese (blood g oups could only be es ed on esh blood, because eezing up u ed he ed cell
memb anes). I hank Jenny Bangham o his in o ma ion.
26 On he expedi ions’blood-collec ing echnologies see Rica do Roque, ‘Bleeding languages: blood g oups
and linguis ic on ologies in Eas Timo ’, MS in p epa a ion.
36 Rica do Roque
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con aine s o knowledge abou indigenous aces concei ed o as imeless p imi i es.
27
They ideally ga e access o human bio-e hnic pas s. They we e also ime- a elling
de ices in ano he sense. We e hei sec e s p ope ly possessed, cu a ed and decoded
by Po uguese an h opologis s, blood pape ca ds could allow Po uguese colonial
science o align wi h he mode n scien ific p esen , whils a he same ime in using i al-
i y in he colonial empi e, emba led as i was agains he hos ile pos -wa an i-colonial
wo ld. In he 1950s–1960s, he e o e, he epis emic and poli ical po ency o he mis-
sions’collec ions, such as he blood ca ds, was unde s ood in ela ion o ce ain concep-
ions o ime ha coalesced expec a ions o scien ific and impe ial u u e wi h acialized
imagina ies o indigenous p imi i ism. A he junc ion o hese imagina ies, he collec-
ions cons i u ed a mul idimensional colonial ch ono ope ha could a once deli e colo-
nial scien is s in o ‘gene alized pas wo lds’in acial–biological ime,
28
and send hem o
abs ac p esen and u u e wo lds o impe ial so e eign y and epis emic p ospe i y.
The socie y o blood ca ds and an h opologis s
The blood ca d collec ions became in ima ely linked o he li e o An ónio de Almeida,
his close associa es and he scien ific ins i u ion unde his u elage since his e u n om
he expedi ions in he 1950s. In Lisbon, his colonial collec ions became he mos impo -
an building block o a social communi y o scien is s de o ed o he s udy o o e seas
popula ions, unde he p emises o he scien ific discipline o an h opobiology. In he
ea ly 1950s, he poli ical p oximi y o he ascis egime and he p oclaimed ‘success’
o he an h opological missions (success judged by he quan i y o assembled da a)
s eng hened he poli ical and scien ific au ho i y o Almeida, he leade o he Angola
and Timo missions (and also o he San Tome E hno-sociology B igade). Since 1935
he had been he chai o colonial e hnology and e hnog aphy a he High Colonial
School in Lisbon; he was also, like Co eia, an engaged poli ical ac o , a depu y o he
Na ional Assembly (1938–1957); in 1955 he was appoin ed di ec o o he new
Cen o de Es udos de E nologia do Ul ama (CEEU) (Cen e o O e seas E hnology
S udies) ha was es ablished in associa ion wi h he High Colonial School and he
O e seas Science Boa d, o sa is y his demands. The cen e was p ima ily c ea ed o
gua d, cu a e and s udy he as collec ions assembled by Almeida’s an h opological
missions in Timo and Angola: ‘ he elemen s o s udy al eady collec ed o o be collec ed
a e mul iple and impo an ’, w o e Mendes Co eia, by hen also p esiden and di ec o
o he High Colonial School, in an o ficial le e o 1951 ha jus ified he need o c ea e
his esea ch cen e: ‘Thei numbe is so high ha hey canno be s udied and published
by ha p o esso [Almeida] alone; ins ead hey cons i u e he ask o a eam o se e al
esea che s.’
29
27 See Joanna Radin, ‘La en li e: concep s and p ac ices o human issue p ese a ion in he In e na ional
Biological P og am’,Social S udies o Science (2013) 43(4), pp. 483–508.
28 S ephan Palmié and Cha les S ewa , ‘In oduc ion: o an an h opology o his o y’,Hau: Jou nal o
E hnog aphic Theo y (2016) 16(1), pp. 207–236, 219.
29 Mendes Co eia o Di ec o Gene al o Minis y o O e seas, 3 Feb ua y 1951, AHIICT-UL, P ocesso
437, Cen o de Es udos de E nologia do Ul ama , ol. 1 (1948–1958).
The blood ha emains 37
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The u u e ha ne e was
In 2013, Ví o Rosado Ma ques – he las s a esea che o he o me Cen e o
An h opobiology s ill ac i e a he T opical Sciences Resea ch Ins i u e (all his o me
colleagues ha ing ei he e i ed o died) – ecalled o me his yea s as lonely ca e o
he biological collec ions o he colonial an h opological missions.
43
We bo h s a ed
a he wooden filing cabine whe e he blood g oup ca ds we e o iginally s o ed and
a chi ed by Almeida and Cas o e Almeida in he 1950s. As he con e sa ion un olded,
i was ha d no o sha e Ma ques’s eeling o ins i u ional abandonmen and ca elessness
as ega ds he ma e ials. We we e in a secluded back o fice in one o he IICT’s many
dispe sed acili ies, which, a he ime, se ed as an imp o ised s o e oom o he
emains o he ex inc cen e: u ni u e, s a ione y, publica ions, pos e s, manusc ip s,
asso ed s u and boxes om he old colonial missions and, in a co ne , he ca ds
cabine . In he mid-2000s all hese a ious ma e ials had been mo ed om he acili ies
o he o me CEA a A . Ósca Mon ei o To es, in o his back oom a Junquei a
S ee , in Lisbon, by o de o he IICT p esidency, bu hey we e ne e he objec o
u he special measu es. They simply lay he e.
Rosado Ma ques s uggled agains he ongoing obsolescence o he a chi e. Fo
Ma ques, his was no was e; hese we e hings o li e wi h, and hings wo h li ing
Figu e 2. Blood g oup ca d om he Timo an h opological mission o 1953, showing aces o
sc a ching and emo al o blood samples o he pu poses o gene ic analysis fi y yea s la e .
This is p esumably one o he ca ds bo owed by gene icis s o a ial o DNA ex ac ion, and
a e wa ds e u ned o he collec ions in Lisbon in he 2000s. Pho og aph by he au ho , Ap il
2013. Dono name anonymized by he au ho . Collec ion o An h opology/Blood Samples,
T opical Resea ch Ins i u e (IICT), Uni e si y o Lisbon. Wi h pe mission o MUHNAC/ULisboa.
43 By hen Rosado Ma ques was head o he Depa men o Human Sciences o he IICT. Wi h Ana C is ina
Roque, Ma ques and I had ecen ly finished ou collabo a ion as co-o ganize s o he Timo : Missões
Cien íficas e An opologia Colonial symposium held in Lisbon in 2011. This and he ollowing e e ences o
Ví o Rosado Ma ques a e based on my no es om se e al in o mal in e iews and con e sa ions held o e
he yea s, especially in 2013 and 2017.
44 Rica do Roque
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o . They held a c ea i e scien ific powe . Rosado Ma ques g adua ed in biology om
he Uni e si y o Lisbon in 1986 and joined he Cen e o An h opobiology o wo k
on human popula ion an h opome ics. He was soon inculca ed in o he ca ds’p omised
alue. He wi nessed he in ima e bond be ween Cas o e Almeida and he files, which he
had been allowed o app oach only om a dis ance un il she le he academic scene. ‘We
had con e sa ions abou i ’, he ecalled, bu ha was he e y ‘pe sonal p ojec ’. A e
Cas o e Almeida’s e i emen , Rosado Ma ques aci ly ook on he posi ion o single
ca e , use and ga ekeepe o he blood g oup ca ds a chi e; o some ime he e en con-
inued Cas o e Almeida’s p ojec on he Timo eco ds. ‘I was he e, nex o me’,he
ema ked; he a chi e was a ‘mo al obliga ion’. Ma ques ook o e Almeida’s ask; he
became hei o he a achmen ha his senio colleague had nu u ed wi h ega d o
he a he ’s collec ions.
When I fi s me Rosado Ma ques back in 2001 in his o fice a he old Cen e o
An h opobiology –a 1950s fla packed o he oo wi h dus y publica ions, pos -wa u -
ni u e and an incalculable a ie y o field eco ds and samples om he an h opological
expedi ions (bones, films, eco dings, ca ds and so o h) –he was al eady he lonely use
and ga ekeepe o he blood a chi e. Twel e yea s la e , as he sha ed his dismay wi h me,
much had changed. The 2000s we e imes o u moil and unce ain y a he IICT o he
ew an h opobiologis s s ill employed a he cen e, including Rosado Ma ques.
44
In
2004, he IICT unde wen a majo e o m unde he p esidency o Jo ge B aga de
Macedo, a neo-libe al economis and o me poli ician and minis e o finances. Since
a leas he 1990s, he IICT was pe cei ed, in Macedo’s wo ds, as a ‘dead ins i u ion,
wi h old people, unin e es ing’, in s a k con as wi h he g owing in e na ionalized
Po uguese sys em o science and echnology ha flou ished unde he dynamic
Minis e o Science José Ma iano Gago.
45
Macedo ook i upon himsel o eb and
he IICT and ehabili a e i s weigh y colonial pas . He in ended o ans o m he IICT
om an ins i u ion o ien ed o i s glo ious pas –in his own wo ds, wi hou ‘di ec ion’,
‘cu ed unde he weigh o i s his o y and he i age’– o a new o wa d-looking o gan-
ism ocused on applied esea ch, economic coope a ion, o eign-a ai s policies and
ideals o de elopmen . The o me Po uguese colonial e i o ies and popula ions con-
inued o be he p i ileged ocus o esea ch and in e en ion. The pu pose now was o
main ain and enew a clea ‘lusophone mission’– ha is o say, a poli ical and scien ific
ocus on Po ugal’s o me impe ial possessions, now eph ased as ‘ opical’lusophone
coun ies.
46
To p ojec he ins i u e in o he u u e was also o e alue and gi e new
meanings o i s colonial pas and so-called accumula ed ‘ opical knowledge’(sabe
44 The umul uous exis ence o he CEA in his pe iod pe haps bea s con as wi h he ins i u ional asse ion
o biological and o ensic an h opology in Po uguese uni e si ies. This ecen his o y o biological
an h opology, howe e , is ye o be s udied in de ail.
45 ‘In e iew wi hP o esso Jo geB aga de Macedo, p esiden o IICT T opical Resea ch Ins i u e o Po ugal’,
Vegamedia/Business Week, 19 Oc obe 2006, a www2.iic .p /a chi e/doc/BusWeek_jbmIn e iew.pd ,p.2,
accessed 2 Feb ua y 2018.
46 ‘En e is a ao P o esso Dou o Jo ge B aga de Macedo, P esiden e e Responsá el pelo P og ama de
Desen ol imen o Global do IICT, 5 Janei o 2007’,inSofia Lopes (ed.), 3 Anos pela Reno ação do Ins i u o
de In es igação Cien ífica T opical, Lisbon: IICT, 2007, pp. 21–22.
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opical), s imula ing a kind o neo-luso- opicalis o m o engagemen wi h he na ions
ha had been Po ugal’s o me colonies, now concei ed as a ‘communi y o Po uguese-
language coun ies’(comunidade dos países de língua po uguesa –CPLP).
47
In his
con ex , he a e o he colonial collec ions came in o ques ion.
Macedo en isioned a ein en ion o he colonial ‘legacies’o he ins i u e as ‘scien ific
he i age’o a common lusophone wo ld. Wi hin he amewo k o luso onia, Po ugal,
Angola, Mozambique, B azil, Cape Ve de, Goa and San Tome we e unde s ood as
o ming a a e nal communi y uni ed by Po uguese language and cul u e; cul u al
and linguis ic commonali y was celeb a ed, while e idence o pas colonial iolence
and inequali y was discoun ed. This amewo k, in ac , con inued Po uguese impe ial
my hologies o spi i ual and cul u al uni e salism, eb anding impe ial ideologies o
Po uguese colonial excep ionalism wi h la e wen ie h-cen u y imagina ies o luso- op-
icalism.
48
This esignifica ion o he colonial scien ific pas –and pa icula ly he collec-
ions o he IICT –as a ace o lusophone solida i y ep esen ed, I belie e, a me e
mu a ion o he colonial ch ono ope o he an h opological missions, a mu a ion ha
allowed he my hology o empi e ing ained in he da a o pe sis in a pos -colonial en i -
onmen . The blood a chi e o indigenous ‘p imi i es’ om he Po uguese colonies now
could, in heo y, be e alued as a bond o ‘coope a ion’in a lusophone communi y, a
monumen o and nos algic e idence o he ‘common his o y’o Po uguese-speaking
coun ies. In p ac ice, howe e , he colonial and acialized emains o an h opobiology
we e le o si ma ginally, i no uncom o ably, wi hin he IICT he i age p og amme.
A e he ins i u ional end o he CEA in 2004, i s collec ions we e dis ibu ed h ough
dis inc cen es and depa men s. In his con ex he des iny o he ca ds was unde con-
side a ion. Whils some de ended he collec ions as a p ecious and inalienable legacy o
he IICT, o he s e en ually conside ed ha he u u e o he ca ds would be bes p e-
se ed by hei ans e o a p ope gene ics labo a o y in Po ugal, whe e he samples
could be adequa ely s udied.
49
The p esidency decided ha he ca ds we e o emain
in he possession o he IICT, and i was a ound his ime ha he cabine was mo ed
in o he imp o ised s o age oom whe e I encoun e ed i in 2013. Be ween 2004 and
2015, he ca ds cabine emained he e, wai ing o an unknown des iny.
No wi hs anding he he o ic o ‘lusophone he i age’, hen, by simply lea ing i in a
back oom wi hou any unc ion, he IICT au ho i ies appa en ly pu he filing cabine
47 Macedo e en ually en isaged ha he IICT would become a hink ank o he CPLP. To his end he also
managed o change i s ins i u ional place wi hin he Po uguese s a e sys em: Macedo u ned he IICT om a
labo a o y unde he Minis y o Science in o an ins i u ion unde he u elage o he Po uguese Minis y o
Fo eign A ai s. I hank Cláudia Cas elo o his poin .
48 Compa e Cláudia Cas elo, ‘O Modo Po uguês de Es a no Mundo’: O Luso- opicalismo e a Ideologia
Colonial Po uguesa, Opo o: A on amen o, 1998; Ad iano de F eixo, ‘Ecos do Luso- opicalismo: a p esença
do pensamen o de Gilbe o F ey e no discu so da Luso onia’,Tex os & Deba es (2015) 27(2), pp. 471–484.
49 I seems ha among an h opobiologis s he sui abili y o he IICT o con inue o se e as he gua dian o
he collec ions was no consensual. In a con e sa ion in 2013, D Ma ia C is ina Ne o (Rosado Ma ques’s
o me colleague a CEA) sugges ed ha his was he case and e e ed o a s uggle wi h B aga de
Macedo’s p esidency o e he a e o he blood samples. Ne o e en ually ad oca ed he ans e o he
samples o a gene ics labo a o y in no he n Po ugal, whe e in he iew hey could be mo e sui ably
p ese ed and pu o scien ific use.
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on hold, as i i was an unclassifiable le o e , a w eckage o he pas le o decay and die.
Only o a momen in 2010 did he ca ds eme ge om hei ins i u ional shadow o play
a small pa in he o ficial he i age discou se. I seems ha , along wi h a numbe o
an h opome ic ins umen s and eco ds om Almeida’s an h opological missions,
one example o a blood g oup ca d was pu on display as pa o a empo a y exhibi ion
se up by he IICT au ho i ies o celeb a e he o me g andeu o he a ious ‘scien ific
missions’ o he Po uguese colonies.
50
Agains hese odds, Rosado Ma ques main ained his belie ha he blood a chi e was
mo e han a es ige o he pas un il a leas he la e 2000s. He sough o a oid i s app o-
p ia ion by ou side s, whils also p e en ing in e nal scep ics om disposing o he ca ds
as useless was e. This labou was mo i a ed by his belie ha he samples could ha e
alue o a science wi h a clea p esen and u u e: gene ics. He made e o s o eac i a e
he ca ds and ansla e he ea ly p omises o aciological knowledge in o con empo a y
me hods o popula ion gene ics, con e ing he collec ions’colonial ch ono ope in o he
p esen and u u e o gene ic sciences. He fi s pains akingly ecoun ed, eo ganized and
ea anged he ca d files in he wooden d awe s, wi h a iew o possible euses o he
blood samples as well as o he an h opome ic da a p oduced by Almeida’s an h opo-
biological expedi ions. Ma ques’s eo ganiza ion ag eed wi h he o iginal dis ibu ion o
he ca ds. Almeida and his daugh e had a anged he ca ds in o d awe s labelled and
classified acco ding o he names o he o me colonial e i o ies and he names o
he so-called ‘e hnic g oups’. In each d awe Ma ques coun ed and agg ega ed he
ca ds acco ding o he same e hnic labels, and added gende symbols. Lacking bo h
he aining (he was no a human gene icis ) and echnological acili ies, he depended
on o he s o ulfil his ision. Fu he mo e, Ma ques was no alone in his imagining
hidden powe s in he old blood samples. In he same pe iod se e al Po uguese gene i-
cis s ou side he IICT app oached him, in e es ed in eusing he blood samples.
Ma ques nego ia ed con olled access o he ca ds. In collabo a ion wi h gene icis s
om uni e si ies in Opo o and Madei a, Ma ques sen a ew ca ds on empo a y
loan o labo a o ies in Ge many and in Slo enia o DNA analysis. The e, a emp s
we e made o ex ac DNA by sc a ching he d y blood o he pape ca ds. The p oced-
u e was abandoned; i was conside ed oo expensi e and un eliable. No u he expe i-
men s we e conduc ed.
By 2013, he e y his o ical ma e iali y o he blood g oup samples now impeded
us wo hy labo a o y analysis; i a ec ed hei du abili y as a biological sou ce o
gene ic in o ma ion om he Asian and A ican indi iduals om whom he blood had
o iginally been ex ac ed in he 1950s and 1960s. In he language o DNA gene ic
s udies, he p oblem was one o ‘con amina ion’; ha is, he ac ha he old ca ds con-
ained DNA segmen s o ‘ o eign o igin’.
51
Ma ques unde s ood he con amina ion
p oblem as he p oduc o 1950s collec ing p ocedu es and ABO g oup de e mina ion.
50 Rosado Ma ques’s pe sonal in o ma ion, June 2017. Ye pho os o blood g oup ca ds do no appea in
he published ca alogue o he exhibi ion. Ana C is ina Ma ins and Te esa Albino (eds.), Viagens e Missões
Cien íficas nos T ópicos 1883–2010, Lisbon: IICT, 2010.
51 See ‘Con amina ion in sequence da abases’,a www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go / ools/ ecsc een/con am, accessed
2 Oc obe 2017.
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The ca ds did no con ain human blood d ops alone: in o de o become blood g oup
da a he ca ds’d y d ops we e a mix u e o blood and 1950s an i-se a, hen an
o ganic composi ion om many indi iduals. Thus he d ops hemsel es we e an inex ic-
able con usion o DNA om many di e en indi iduals ha could no be easily dis in-
guished. Human gene icis s, howe e , saw addi ional p oblems beyond he
con amina ion inhe en o an i-se a. F om his iewpoin , inadequa e p ese a ion p o-
cedu es adop ed by he old CEA and i s esea che s had caused he samples o deg ade.
D Luis Sou o de Mi anda o he Uni e si y o A ei o was among he fi s gene icis s o
seek o use he colonial samples o a new p ojec on o ensics and popula ion gene ics in
Eas Timo . Acco ding o Mi anda, he e we e ‘many [gene icis s] in e es ed’in he
samples in he ea ly 2000s. He old me he indeed conside ed eusing he ca ds, bu
a e a isi o he CEA in 2000–2001 –a isi Mi anda emembe s el like ‘ a elling
back in ime’– he was quick o disca d his possibili y because he ‘collec ions’, in his
own wo ds, ‘a e deg aded’due o ‘con amina ion’o he samples by decades o inad-
equa e s o age and manipula ion.
52
‘The p oblem o he collec ions made in he colonial
pe iod’, he concluded, ‘is ha hey do no endu e’. Back in he 1950s, he pape ca ds o
blood g oup classifica ion we e p e e ed by colonial an h opologis s o hei ease in
mass collec ing, hei anspo abili y, and he ad an ages o s o age and use as pape
files in he o fice. Bu , om he pe spec i e o gene icis s oday, hese me hods o
s o age and manipula ion incon enien ly de e io a ed he samples, lea ing hem oo
hea ily ‘con amina ed’ o eliable gene ic analysis. F om his iewpoin , he colonial
ca ds ailed o deli e he p omise o du abili y; unwo kable o DNA s udies on he o i-
ginal indigenous popula ions hey we e deemed o ep esen , hey a e unde s ood as i
hey a e u u eless, a dead es ige o he scien ific pas .
Ma ques may ha e los some o his ea ly ai h in he u u e o he ca ds a e his
sequence o ailed labo a o y a emp s. He li ed wi h he ca ds di e en ly he ea e ,
as i acknowledging hey could se e p incipally as elic and eminde o pas achie e-
men s in he Po uguese sciences. He s epped back om encou aging euse by gene icis s.
In 2013, when he showed me he s o age oom, he had al eady e ea ed in o he ole o
keepe o he ma e ial li e o he ca d collec ions, as pieces o ‘his o y’. Soon a e wa ds
he b oke his a achmen o he ca d samples o good. In 2015, an unexpec ed ins i u-
ional change b ough he d eams o e o m o he IICT o an end. Following a ense
and poli ically con olu ed ins i u ional exis ence unde Macedo’s p esidency, he
Po uguese go e nmen dec eed he ‘ex inc ion by usion’o he IICT and he subsequen
‘in eg a ion’o he IICT’s s a , he i age and collec ions in o Po ugal’s la ges uni e si y,
he Uni e si y o Lisbon.
53
Du ing his p ocess he ca ds we e emo ed om he s o age
oom and ans e ed in o he Na ional Museum o Na u al His o y and Science a he
Uni e si y o Lisbon (MUHNAC), whe e hey emain oday. In his ans e , he ca ds
we e ca e ully packed and eins alled inside he wooden d awe s o he o iginal
52 In e iews wi h Luís Sou o de Mi anda, A ei o, Oc obe 2015 and Janua y 2016.
53 Dec e o-lei 141/2015, 31 July 2015; see also Despacho no 5970/2016, Rei o ia da Uni e sidade de
Lisboa, h ough which he Uni e si y o Lisbon delega es o he MUHNAC di ec o he managemen o he
IICT he i age. I hank Ma a C. Lou enço o his e e ence.
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cus om filing cabine ha con ained hem. They we e also a ibu ed a biologized iden-
i y by being conside ed na u al-his o y collec ions: a MUHNAC he ca ds a e cu en ly
s o ed, away om he gene al public, in he ‘ ese ed’sec ion o Zoology.
54
In ecen
decades he ea men o he ances al emains o indigenous peoples as biospecimens
(including blood) has become highly e hically and poli ically sensi i e, especially in he
con ex o epa ia ion deba es in Aus alia, New Zealand, Canada, he UK and he
US.
55
In his ligh he eanima ion o he blood g oup ca ds as simple zoological speci-
mens a MUHNAC in Lisbon is po en ially p oblema ic – o my knowledge, howe e ,
his heme has no ye been openly discussed. Indigenous A ican and Asian his o ici ies
and concep s emain absen in he ca ee o he ca ds’colonial ch ono opes.
Classi ying he ca ds as ‘con amina ed’made he samples ine ec i e o con empo a y
gene icis s in e es ed in pu suing DNA s udies o he indigenous ‘popula ions’o he
o me Po uguese colonial empi e. In judging he samples as ailing o con ain pu ely
‘indigenous’bioma e ials, howe e , new gene ic science con inued he colonial d eam
o he samples’scien ific weal h. Al hough he samples could be pu aside in o a
quasi-was e condi ion, i was s ill hei alue as e idence o ancien pu e and au hen ic
indigenous indi iduals ha was a s ake. The con amina ion label ei e a ed, h ough a
p ocess o nega ion, he colonial ch ono ope o he ca ds as a pa hway o p imi i e bio-
logical pas s o ‘indigenous’peoples. The colonial ch ono ope was no w ong pe se, jus
inadequa ely execu ed. And ye , pa adoxically, he gene icis s’classifica ion o he colo-
nial samples as ‘con amina ed’makes oom o a a he dis inc c i ical analysis o he
cu en pos -coloniali y o he blood a chi e. Fo one impo an eason why he blood
ca ds a e seen as ‘con amina ed’is because, o e decades, hey we e in cons an and
in ima e con ac wi h hei p ima y human use s: he colonial collec o s, and –abo e
all – he scien is s, he an h opobiologis s, a Lisbon. Human DNA om An ónio de
Almeida, Ma ia Emília and Rosado Ma ques, o ins ance, may be ma e ially insc ibed
in o he ca d collec ions. The social, a ec i e and ma e ial in imacy be ween humans
and samples a he CEA – he associa ion o an h opobiologis s and blood ca ds – ans-
o med he blood a chi e in o a e y dis inc biobank. In so-called ‘con amina ed’ca ds,
indigenous DNA is inex icable om ha o colonial scien is s. The pape ca ds ha e
become ca ie s o da a om he scien is s’bodies hemsel es. They a e no longe
me ely samples o indigenous popula ions, bu biological elics o scien ific occupa ion
and o i s a e ma h. This appa en ly ema kable wis in he bio-ma e ial cons i u ion
o he pape ca ds was caused by hei social and his o ical ajec o y as a ‘colonial
and acialized collec ion’. In o he wo ds, he social li e o ca ds in he hands o scien is s
u ned he ca ds in o bio- eco ds o hei own his o ici y; i ans o med he biological
na u e o he pape a chi e, and ul ima ely i unde mined he possibili y o a scien ific
u u e in gene ics. In his silen ans o ma ion o he ca ds’ma e iali y, pe haps, we
can see he acial poli ics o science and collec ing being undone, he o iginal colonial
54 Ca a ina Teixei a, email, 10 May 2018 (kindly o wa ded by Ma a C. Lou enço).
55 See, o example, Kowal, Radin and Rea don, op. ci . (2); Paul Tu nbull and Michael Picke ing (eds.),
The Long Way Home: The Meaning and Values o Repa ia ion, Ox o d: Be ghahn Books, 2010; Emma
Kowal, ‘O phan DNA: indigenous samples, e hical bio alue and pos colonial science’,Social S udies o
Science (2013) 43, pp. 577–597.
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ch ono ope po en ially sub e ed. None o hese conside a ions, howe e , has ye
en e ed discussions o cu en unde s andings o he collec ions in hei cu en li es
as museum objec s.
In en e ing he museum in 2015, he ca ds became collec ions o zoology, emana ions
o he na u al wo ld ha con ained scien ific knowledge in po en ia –no simply in ela-
ion o he biological na u e o he a chi ed blood, bu also in ela ion o he ca ds as
e idence o a bygone epoch o science. In ea ly 2017, I me wi h he cu a o o an h opo-
logical collec ions and he museum echnicians esponsible o he ca e and conse a ion
o he ma e ials. Fo he cu a o as well as o he conse a o , he ca ds a e o be ea ed
acco ding o igo ous echnical p ocedu es o conse a ion in o de o endu e a physical
li e in he museum s o e oom. As ma e ial conse a ion p oceeds, he w i en in o ma-
ion s o ed in he ca ds is sepa a ed om he ca ds, ex ac ed and ans o med in o a
digi al da abase. Now ha gene icis s ha e decla ed ha he blood i sel is unsui able
o gene ic analysis, blood ca ds and w i en da a a e se apa om each o he . Thus
he wo ds insc ibed on he ca ds (dono , blood g oup, e c.) a e he objec o a classifica-
o y and in o ma ional cu a o ship. And ye , I belie e, he capaci y o he blood a chi e
o a icula e his o ici ies o ace, science and empi e in he p esen is no simply dead; i
lies do man . Unlike gene icis Luís de Mi anda, who unde s ands he collec ions as
useless emains o he scien ific pas , museum cu a o s ea he ca ds as la en scien ific
‘sou ces’–sleeping da a wi hou p esen e ec , bu wi h an imagined u u e in he
sciences ha has been only empo a ily deac i a ed. ‘I canno see hese collec ions as
“ uined”o “abandoned”,’MUHNAC depu y di ec o Ma a C. Lou enço obse ed
in he esponse o an ea lie e sion o his essay: ‘I see hem as sou ces, as scien ific col-
lec ions. They may be “do man ”, like an a chi e, bu hey can answe so many esea ch
ques ions abou he pas , he p esen and e en he u u e.’This may poin o ye
unknown uses in he biological sciences, bu also o he ca ds’capaci y o be anima ed
by s o ies abou a ime ha lies behind. ‘They a e ali e’, Lou enço added, ‘ o ell many
s o ies abou he pas o he sciences and he pas o Po ugal o p esen and u u e
esea che s and gene al audiences’.
56
This pe cei ed po ency o he ca d collec ions as
do man elici o s o u u e knowledge abou ‘ he pas o he sciences and he pas o
Po ugal’ es ic s hei condi ion o con aine s o a pas ime o na ional his o y ha
is no mo e. This may explain why hey a e kep sa ely and du ably in a museum
aul . P io o hei e u n o he wooden d awe s I saw he se s o ca ds being
w apped up in clo h and ca dboa d boxes a he Na u al His o y and Science
Museum in Lisbon. The ca e ul conse a ion p ocedu e esembled a une a y i e on
dange ous co pses, as i he ca ds con ained he essence o a depa ed colonial
science –and some ye unknown po ency o be duly sa egua ded and con olled bu
also kep ou o sigh .
56 Ma a C. Lou enço, pe sonal communica ion by email, 13 May 2018.
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Conclusion: s aying wi h he con amina ion
Th oughou i s jou ney om he ex-colonies o Lisbon in he 1950s, o he museum in
he 2010s, and ia a ious scien ific ins i u ions in be ween, he ca ds a chi e became
inc easingly in used wi h empo al imagina ies; a he same ime, i s own socioma e ial
li e pa ed he way o unin ended empo ali ies. I ha e imagined he blood ca ds as a
mu a ing and mul iple colonial ch ono ope. The concep o colonial ch ono ope was
he e ad anced o shed ligh on he his o y o scien ific collec ions as plas ic configu a-
ions o colonial ime–spaces. The idiom o ‘mu a ions’, as p oposed by Kowal, Radin
and Rea don, hus can be en iched by concep ualizing collec ions as ch ono opes ha
bo h can be ac ed upon and be an ac o o hei own shi ing colonial and acial empo -
ali ies. To assign hese ime–space wis s o he idiom o impe ial ‘ uins’alone, howe e ,
de e s us om add essing he mul iple empo al on ologies ha may ac i a e, o be ac i-
a ed by, he exis ence o ‘wha emains’ om empi es –such as colonial collec ions. Fo ,
as demons a ed abo e, uin, was e o deb is –as seen when gene icis s decla ed he
ca ds o be useless con amina ed en i ies –we e one possible quali y among many ha
bioma e ials could adop h oughou hei social li es. This by no means ep esen ed
hei end as scien ific collec ions; as specimens o imagined la en epis emic po ency
hey emain s o ed in he museum. The e, he blood ca ds, howe e , con inue o bea
wi ness o collec ions as colonial ch ono opes.
The ca ds shi ed om embodying isions o scien ific alue in he p esen and in he
u u e o a la en condi ion as a esidue o he pas , and om embodying isions o
impe ial u u es o encapsula ing he p omises o a benign luso onia. Simul aneously,
he accumula ion o empo al imagina ies in he ca ds was ollowed by he accumula ion
o DNA agmen s, empo al eco ds hemsel es. Hence he ends o he blood g oup
ca ds as collec ions a e o be concep ualized, I belie e, no as ends de ac o bu as mu a-
ions o hei cons i u i e colonial ch ono opes. As acialized ma ke s, he ca ds con-
densed he d eams o pos -wa Po uguese colonial acial science. A he CEA, he
collec ion consolida ed an o iginal scien ific communi y o sel - ashioned ‘an h opobiol-
ogis s’. The e, as a easu ed possession o Almeida and his daugh e , hey we e an objec
o pe sonal ca e and a ec , a sou ce o scien ific au ho i y, and a media o o no ions o
human di e ence and a fini y ac oss he Po uguese o e seas wo ld. Bu , as ime wen
by, he isions embodied in he a chi e los ouch wi h he wo ld ou side he cen e.
The collec i e en i ies, such as ‘empi e’and ‘an h opobiology’, ha he blood ca ds
a icula ed and we e mean o hold oge he in hei mic oscopic ma e iali y los hei
conc e e exis ence. The empi e was disman led; colonial aciology and se o-an h opol-
ogy los c edibili y; hei collec o s, ca e s and use s aged and died. In he 2000s he
socie y o an h opobiologis s and hei blood ca ds e ec i ely came o an ins i u ional
end. The ew an h opobiologis s who su i ed he end o he colonial empi e and he
ans o ma ions o he CEA, howe e , li ed wi h his ma e ial as hings ha we e
ully coe al wi h hei exis ences and ca ee s. The colonial ch ono ope o he collec ion
p o ed o be esilien ; a he han disappea ing, i unde wen se e al mu a ions. O e
he yea s, he collec ions’p omises we e no ulfilled. Ye , o some, e en wi h he
demise o he Po uguese empi e, he blood ca ds main ained an embellished colonial
The blood ha emains 51
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pas in he o m o lusophone he i age; o o he s, hey s ill con ained gene ic alue as
long as ‘bioda a’on colonized indigenous people could be ex ac ed. Thus an h opobiol-
ogis s and, la e on, human gene icis s saw he ca ds as con inuing ca ie s o epis emic
alue cong uen wi h he da a-ex ac ion image ies o colonial sciences. Beyond hei
( ailed) links o p esen science, he collec ions we e en olled in pos -colonial imagina ies
o he i age ha ansla ed hopes o u u e p ospe i y and communi y in he idiom o
luso onia. Once decla ed gene ically con amina ed, howe e , hey we e dep i ed o an
imagined u u e in gene ics. Gene icis s hen abandoned hopes o ex ac ing om he
old collec ions u he bioda a on indigenous popula ions, looking a he ca ds as obso-
le e, a kind o scien ific was e o he pas . They hen en e ed a museum aul as do man
specimens o ye unknown scien ific alue, in which hei pa in he p esen seems also o
be ha o a na ional quasi- elic o pas Po uguese sciences. Th oughou his his o y o
ans o ma ions, howe e , no indigenous p esen s o u u es we e ye in oked o in i ed
o play an ac i e ole. This las ing absen in e en ion o dono s and hei descendan s
may con as wi h si ua ions – epa ia ion p ocesses being he mos pa adigma ic –in
which he colonial ch ono opes o collec ions a e econfigu ed, o ac ually e mina ed,
wi h he ac i e in ol emen o indigenous people.
And ye , I also a gue ha i we conside he collec ions’gene ic con amina ion o be a
gene a i e, a he han nega i e, p ope y, his may pa e he way o a c i ique o he
samples’colonial ch ono ope. Whils gene icis s see impu i y as a p oblem, I see i as
he possibili y o new pos -colonial imaginings. Th oughou hei social li e, he ca ds
hemsel es came o coalesce di e en imes and he biologies o di e en subjec s.
This e e escen biosocial agency o he ca ds o e he cou se o hei exis ences ac s
o in e e e wi h he o iginal colonial di ides and ex ac i e imagina ies ha , none he-
less, simul aneously pe sis s ongly in hese collec ions. This may no simply undo
hese di ides and imagina ies –bu i adds o he ca ds’exis ence an unexpec edly sub-
e si e conjunc ion ha is wo h aking in o accoun . The DNA pa e ns o scien is s
and indigenous people, o di e en e as and locales, dwell oge he on he ca ds.
DNA agmen s o Almeida in he 1950s, o Cas o e Almeida in he 1960s, o
Rosado Ma ques in he 2000s, o o he unknown use s, and finally o a mul i ude o
indigenous subjec s (mos o whom would now be dead) om Timo and Angola in
he 1940s and 1950s ha e come o co-cons i u e he ma e iali y o he samples. This
ense on ological coexis ence o dis inc imes and human aces is pe haps one final,
hough silen , mu a ion in he mul iple colonial ch ono ope o he ca ds. The ca ds esili-
en ly e oke in hei exis ence he colonial imbalances and acialized cons uc s by which
hey we e c ea ed. Bu o e hei exis ence hey also became co-p oduce s o an unin-
ended cohabi a ion o imes and o people ha we e deemed o exis sepa a ely.
Hence inspi ed by eminis and science s udies schola Donna J. Ha away, I conclude
by imagining he blood g oup ca ds oday as mic oscopic ‘ ela ional–semio ic wo ldings’
in which ‘on ologically he e ogeneous pa ne s’li e wi h, and ‘become-wi h’, one
ano he .
57
In ‘s aying wi h’ he ouble o hei p esen con amina ion, we a e in i ed
57 Donna J. Ha away, S aying wi h he T ouble: Making Kin in he Ch hulucene, Du ham, NC: Duke
Uni e si y P ess, 2016, pp. 12–13.
52 Rica do Roque
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o conside hese collec ions as media o s o nei he ends no beginnings. Ins ead, we a e
called o look upon hem as oubling biosocial en i ies whe e spa io empo ally di e se
bodily aces and ges u es a e insc ibed and coexis in ongoing ension.
The blood ha emains 53
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