Colonial history affects who gets to ask questions.

Museums affect which objects survive.

Translation affects meaning.

Funding affects research priorities.

The Ishi case contains all of these problems.

He was called a friend, but friendship existed alongside professional benefit.

He was called an informant, a term once common in anthropology but now often replaced because of its extractive implications.

He was paid, but the institution still had enormous control over his living situation.

His knowledge was preserved, but the public presentation of that knowledge could turn him into spectacle.

His body was respected in some ways and violated in others.