Native woman who was placed on display reburied in Mexico

Wednesday, February 13, 2013  

A Native woman who was mummified and put on display by her European husband was reburied in Mexico, more than 100 years after her death.

Julia Pastrana suffered from hypertrichosis, a genetic condition that left her with hair over her face and body. Her husband, a man from Norway, put her on a worldwide tour, where she became known as the "Bearded and Hairy Lady."

Pastrana died in 1860 shortly after giving birth to a boy. Her husband had their remains mummified and continued to parade them around the world until they ended up in Norway.

The remains of the baby were vandalized in 1976. Pastrana's remains were kept in Norway until they were finally reburied in her homeland on Tuesday.

“Julia Pastrana has come home,” said Saul Rubio Ayala, her hometown mayor, the Associated Press reported. “Julia has been reborn among us. Let us never see another woman be turned into an object of commerce.”

Get the Story:
Mexican ‘ape woman’ put on display in Victorian Europe buried in homeland after 150 years (AP 2/12)
An Artist Finds a Dignified Ending for an Ugly Story (The New York Times 2/12)