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N.Z museum mulls options for mummified Maori heads

WELLINGTON (AFP) – For decades, New Zealand has campaigned for museums to repatriate the mummified and heavily-tattooed heads of Maori warriors held in collections worldwide -- now it must decide what to do with the gruesome but culturally valuable relics.

New Zealand's national museum Te Papa has more than 100 of the heads, known as toi moko, in storage in Wellington, along with about 500 skeletal remains plundered from Maori graves as recently as the 1930s.

In Maori culture, the dark swirls and geometric designs of traditional facial tattoos on men recognised high birth and rank, as well as achievements on the battlefield.

Te Herekiekie Herewini, who leads Te Papa's repatriation programme, said the heads of deceased chiefs or family members would be mummified as a way of preserving their spirit, while enemies' heads were preserved as war trophies.

"Initially the mummification of heads and bodies was part of our normal mourning process," he said.

"But when Europeans came, they saw the exotic nature of the heads and they became a coveted trading item because they were of commercial value in Europe, America and Australia."

The heads became so valuable that in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, some Maori hunted members of rival iwis (tribes) and murdered them to supply the burgeoning market in European museums for exotic human remains.

"For some of the iwi, trading in toi moko was strategic in accessing items such as muskets and European tools," Herewini said.

The trade in human heads was banned in the 1830s but over the next century museums turned their attention to skeletal remains.

New Zealand medical students also fed the demand, as they were required to take their own skeletons when they attended overseas colleges, with most of the bones robbed from Maori tombs.

"People would go to known caves or hidden burial sites where they knew Maori remains were and, without permission, they would take them and trade them," Herewini said. "Every museum wanted their own Maori head or Maori skeleton."

The grisly curios continued to be displayed in museums around the world, including New Zealand, until the 1970s.

Herewini said it was around then that Maori began pushing for the repatriation of their ancestors' remains, often meeting fierce resistance from institutions which feared it would set a precedent that could eventually see them forced to return human remains such as ancient Egyptian mummies.

The French parliament last year voted overwhelmingly in favour of returning around 15 Maori toi moko after years of debate about the implications of the move.

"These are much more than simple museum pieces," French lawmaker Michele Tabarot said at the time.

"These are human remains and some of these people were deliberately murdered to satisfy a despicable trade."

Herewini said repatriating remains was an emotional issue for Maori, who had a strong connection to the land and wanted to give the warriors the dignity of a proper funeral.

"For us, it's taking an ancestor back home, so it's the whole process of remembering," he said. "They're family members and it's important for them to be returned home to their resting place.

"The iwi don't know exactly who these people are but they do know they're connected to the land. They think about the different battles they were in, the different lifestyle they lived and the possible connections they have with them directly."

While the remains are returned to their iwi whenever possible, Herewini said that a lack of historical records meant about a quarter of the heads and bones held at Te Papa could not be identified.

They are stored in acid-free boxes in a special area of the museum and never go on display. Even viewing images of toi moko is considered taboo in Maori culture, Herewini said.

Building a permanent mausoleum for the unidentified remains in Wellington is under consideration but the Ngati Kuri tribe, in the country's far north, has put forward an alternative proposal.

They want to bury them near Te Rerenga Wairua, or Cape Reinga, the northernmost point in New Zealand, where Maori believe the spirits of the dead depart for the afterlife.

"It's a special area where there are ancient burial sites," Ngati Kuri Trust chairman Graeme Neho said. "Provided the other iwi agree, we believe placing their final resting place there would be a comfort to them and we would be their guardians."

Regardless of the remains' final destination, Herewiri sad he would continue his quest to return Maori ancestors to their homeland.

"For me, it's about righting a wrong, whether that was committed by Maori or Europeans is really immaterial," he said.

"It's completing the circle and bringing these people back home."

U.S. fast food caught in immigration crosshairs

LOS ANGELES/DALLAS (Reuters) – Chipotle Mexican Grill has a lot going for it -- an upscale burrito concept, a hip and eco-friendly image, expansion plans galore and a 500 percent-plus stock price gain in just over two years.

And then it has something not going its way -- a federal crackdown on its immigrant labor force that has so far forced Chipotle to fire hundreds of allegedly illegal workers in the state of Minnesota, perhaps more than half its staff there.

The probe is widening. Co-Chief Executive Monty Moran told Reuters on Friday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also issued "notices of inspection" for restaurants in Washington D.C. and Virginia.

Investors in the Wall Street darling are taking note and one firm, Calvert Investments, plans to talk to Chipotle about the large number of undocumented workers uncovered.

Dependence on illegal labor is the elephant in the room for the U.S. restaurant business. And experts say the Chipotle ICE investigations are a wake-up call for an industry that is one of America's biggest employers and generates over $300 billion in annual sales, according to research firm IBISWorld Inc.

Chipotle -- a Denver-based company whose motto is "Food With Integrity" -- is one of the most well-known names caught in the immigration enforcement shift that began two years ago.

At that time, Barack Obama, a proponent of immigration reform to help manage the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, became president. Also at that time, immigrant hiring by restaurants began to rebound.

Obama has had to walk a fine line on the issue. He must uphold the law and appease Americans resentful of illegal immigrants working as the unemployment rate stubbornly sits at 9 percent. But he needs to do it in a way palatable to Hispanic voters who will be key to his re-election in 2012.

Gone are the days of big raids that snared large numbers of workers, mostly from Mexico and Central America. Under Obama, immigration enforcement agents are cracking down on employers with so-called "I-9 audits" -- I-9 being the employment eligibility verification form.

ICE says that means companies' hiring practices could be subjected to the same degree of scrutiny as their bookkeeping is by the Internal Revenue Service.

"When you get a big name like Chipotle, it stands out and sends a message," said Jacqueline Longnecker, president of Reno-based Employment Verification Resources Inc.

"The onus is on employers now ... It sends the message that nobody is going to be excused from this," she said, adding that many companies -- both large and small -- do not recognize the potential liabilities they now face.

Chipotle believes it has not been singled out.

"ICE has vowed to increase pressure on employers to avoid employing undocumented workers ... We are one of a large and growing number of companies to go through this process," Moran told Reuters by e-mail.

But to date, the majority of audits that have come to light in the restaurant business have been limited to small operators or franchisees of big chains, like Subway.

EMPLOYEE CHURN

The U.S. fast-food industry historically has offered relatively low pay and paltry benefits to legal workers and, as a result, has struggled with high employee turnover.

Longnecker and other experts said restaurant owners are attracted to illegal laborers because they work hard, are loyal and will go the extra mile to hold down a job.

It is hard to know the extent of hiring of illegal immigrants in restaurants. But immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- account for about a quarter of workers in the restaurant and food services industry and their numbers are up in recent years.

Their share fell from 24.5 percent in March 2006 to 21.4 percent in March 2008 -- before and during the recession -- but then recovered to 23.6 percent in March 2009 and March 2010, according to an analysis of the government's Current Population Survey (CPS) data conducted for Reuters by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

The overall number of immigrants employed in the sector climbed from just over 1.7 million in 2008 to 1.8 million in 2010, according to this data, even as native employment fell from 6.4 million to 5.9 million.

The Pew Hispanic Center -- whose demographic and labor market work is highly regarded -- estimated in a 2009 report that 12 percent of the workforce in food preparation and serving in 2008 was undocumented.

Chipotle, which has more than 1,000 restaurants mostly in the United States and plans to open as many as 145 more in 2011, pays its workers more than the average burger flipper but its building binge has stoked its appetite for new hires.

Alejandro, one of the Chipotle workers fired in Minnesota who asked that his last name not be published for fear of reprisals, worked there for five years and earned $9.42 per hour, taking home $1,200 a month. That allowed him to send up to $800 per month to his daughters to keep studying in Mexico.

"I thought it was a good company," said Alejandro, who lost his job in December along with 10 of his 20 co-workers. "I was even going to get training to be promoted to kitchen manager."

PROBLEMS WITH PAPERS

Alejandro, 37, and co-worker Tanya, a 35-year-old mother of four, admit they are in the United States illegally and had to use false documents to get their jobs at Chipotle.

"I believe that when you go to apply there, they know beforehand that you don't have papers," Tanya said by phone. "And after the six years I worked there, or the 10 years of some of my colleagues, they get rid of us without warning."

The false documents, which include things such as driver's licenses, Social Security cards and residence permits, are easy to come by "on the street," said Tanya. "Many people offer them. It is part of coming here and trying to make a better life for your children."

But Moran says that Chipotle has "always taken this issue very seriously, and over the last five years we have done a great deal to improve our systems, and our document review capabilities and procedures."

"Certainly this incident has been eye-opening for us and caused us to redouble our efforts to make sure we are doing all we can short of running afoul of the mandate of the Department of Justice," said Moran, adding that Chipotle performs two document reviews for each employee hired, one by the hiring manager and another by its human resources department.

The company, which has gained a cult-like following by serving natural and organic food where possible, stands out as one of the industry's top performers when it comes to sales at established restaurants and stock gains. Its stock price is flirting with $250 compared to under $40 in November 2008.

It also differs from other public traded chains in another very important way. Unlike McDonald's Corp and most other restaurant companies, it does not rely on franchisees to own and operate restaurants, which means it might be easier to hold its head office more accountable for infractions.

INVESTOR URGES 'BETTER SYSTEMS'

Investors, however, may not see much risk to Chipotle or other fast food companies from their immigration quandaries. Chipotle stock still ended 3 percent higher on Friday after the news of the widening immigration probe.

After all, the companies can simply go out and hire others or pay fines to ICE that probably won't dent their bottom lines. Total ICE fines last year were a paltry $7 million.

But Maryland-based Calvert Investments said it was surprised by the extent of Chipotle's undocumented workers because the company scores high on the issues Calvert monitors -- good social, environmental and corporate governance.

"We would urge them to put better systems in place so that the likelihood of this occurring again is slim," said Ellen Kennedy, senior sustainability research analyst at Calvert, which oversees $14.5 billion in assets.

Chipotle, which reports fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, recognizes it is big deal for its operations.

"This incident has caused a lot of disruption -- both to us and in the lives of so many of our people," said Moran, whose company reported 22,250 employees at the end of 2009. "In addition, it's been a heartbreaking situation for us to lose so many excellent employees."

Indeed, it is not just a few workers who need to be hired and trained to keep the places running. Chipotle will not disclose the total number fired, but it could be as many as 700 of its estimated 1,200 Minnesota workers.

Those are the figures circulating among the Minneapolis legal community, according to Javier Morillo, the president of labor union SEIU Local 26, which does not represent the fast food sector but is helping the workers because of its interest in immigration reform.

The need for reform is where labor and business agree.

"We need those businesses that are being audited to speak up and say to the government this is insanity and it is not solving a thing," said Morillo.

Chipotle's Moran does speak up, saying in his email: "The system clearly isn't working very well as it is, and reform is absolutely necessary."

As for Tanya and Alejandro, they are fairly confident they will get new jobs in restaurants or factories in Minneapolis, but they probably won't get the good salary or long run they had at Chipotle.

(Additional reporting by Herb Lash in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman.)

Ford recalling F-150 pickups to fix door handles

WASHINGTON – Ford Motor Co. recalled nearly 365,000 F-150 pickup trucks in North America on Thursday to fix a problem with the interior door handles that could lead to the doors opening in a crash.

Ford said the recall affects about 280,000 F-150s in the U.S. from the 2009 and 2010 model years built from Jan. 18, 2008, through Nov. 30, 2009. About 68,000 of the popular trucks under recall are in Canada and about 14,000 are in Mexico.

The Dearborn, Mich., company said there have been no crashes or injuries tied to the problem. The F-150 is part of Ford's popular F-Series pickup, the best-selling vehicle in the U.S.

"Ford is committed to safety and is quickly working to address this matter with our customers," said Wes Sherwood, a company spokesman.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on its website that a spring in the interior door handle could break, causing the door to fail to latch properly. If the truck was struck by another vehicle on the side, the government said the door latch could open.

The recall is expected to begin around Feb. 14. Ford said dealers would inspect the trucks and add reinforcements to the spring or replace the side interior door handle module.

Owners can contact Ford at (866) 436-7332.

Hampton University Museum Welcomes Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper

Beginning Friday, February 4, Hampton University Museum (the oldest African American museum in the United States) welcomes Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper, a free exhibition highlighting the career of one of America’s premier printmakers.

(Vocus/PRWEB) February 02, 2011

Beginning Friday, February 4, Hampton University Museum (the oldest African-American museum in the United States) welcomes Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper, a free exhibition highlighting the career of one of America’s premier printmakers. Organized by the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans, and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, the works presented will showcase more than 45 years of artistry.

Now an Associate Professor of Art at the University of Maryland, Humphrey first emerged in the dynamic Northern California arts scene of the 1970s. During this time, she developed a “sophisticated naïve” style, a technique characterized by expressive figuration and the bold use of color. Humphreys depicts themes such as African- American culture, food, music, religion, and social issues, in her work. Though her imagery is a often a direct reflection of personal experiences, it is also derived from the condition and circumstance of being black in America.

For more information on Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper, contact Hampton University Museum at 757/727-5308 or check out http://museum.hamptonu.edu/exhibitions_calendar.cfm Her Story: Margo Humphrey Lithographs and Works on Paper

February 4, 2011- May 9, 2011

Hampton University Museum11 Frissell AvenueHampton, VA 23669

Monday - Friday- 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.Saturday Noon- 4:00 p.m.Closed Sunday, major holidays, campus holidays

Partially bordered by the Hampton Roads harbor and Chesapeake Bay, Hampton, with the 344,000 sq. ft. Hampton Roads Convention Center, is located in the center of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.Hampton is the site of America's first continuous English-speaking settlement and is home to such visitor attractions as the Virginia Air & Space Center and Riverside IMAX ® Theater, Hampton History Museum, harbor tours and cruises, Hampton University Museum, Fort Monroe, award-winning Hampton Coliseum, The American Theatre, among others.

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Ryan LaFataHampton Convention & Visitor Bureau(757) 728-5328Email Information

Don’t hold your breath for stand-alone 3-D Blu-ray of ‘Avatar’

Almost a year after its theatrical debut, "Avatar" is due to arrive December 1 as a 3-D Blu-ray disc, butto go along with it-and according to the movie's producer, it could be a long time before you can order the 3-D Blu-ray of James Cameron's blockbuster on its own.

"Avatar" producer Jon Landau says that the 3-D Blu-ray for "Avatar" will eventually become available as a stand-alone disc, but only once there are more viewers out there with 3-D TVs in their living rooms.

"We were ahead of the curve on DVD with 'Titanic' and we don't want to make that mistake again," Landau recently . Landau added that when "Titanic" was initially released on DVD, in 1999, DVD players were only in about 500,000 U.S. households, resulting in "disappointing" sales.

There's already a best-selling Blu-ray disc of "Avatar" on the market, and the predictable "extended collector's edition" (chock-full of extras missing from the initial bare-bones release) is due next week-but those discs are the 2-D version of the movie.

Of course, 3-D in your den isn't just a matter of having a 3-D Blu-ray player-or a PlayStation 3, now that the .

You'll also need a 3-D-capable TV set (not to mention pricey 3-D glasses), and according to industry analysts, .

Bundling the 3-D Blu-ray of "Avatar" with Panasonic 3-D TVs-and only Panasonic 3-D TVs, given that this is an exclusive deal-could be a "great way" to jump-start the number of 3-D TV sets in U.S. homes, Landau argues.

But as Hollywood in HiDef's Hettrick points out, there's a "chicken-or-egg" phenomenon at work here. After all, part of the reason that 3-D TV sales have been so slow is that there's so little 3-D content to watch.

Indeed, home video executives are touting next Tuesday as "Blu-ray 3-D Day" because 10 more 3-D Blu-ray discs-including "Clash of the Titans," "The Polar Express," "A Christmas Carol" and IMAX titles like "Deep Sea 3D" and "Space Station 3D"-will be hitting the market (along with one racy 3-D video, "Erotek Dimensions 3D"), .

By the end of the year, the number of 3-D Blu-ray movies available is expected to hit a grant total of ... 24, or 36 if you count the movies that are bundled with TVs (like "Avatar").

So, when will James Cameron & Co. decide that there are enough 3-D TV and Blu-ray owners out there to justify a stand-alone release of the 3-D "Avatar" Blu-ray? Hard to say, although Hettrick notes that Panasonic's exclusivity deal with 20th Century Fox might last as long as a year.

Hollywood in HiDef:

- Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.