“One of Us or One of Them”

Anthropologists have long interrogated and produced knowledge of biological differences between populations. Biological bases, real or perceived, of human variation have also informed US forensic anthropology, with analyses of “ancestry” being routinely conducted to aid in identifying human remains. Methodological bases of such work have been criticized; however, less attention has been paid to how such practices may influence knowledge production in other parts of the world, in part due to assumptions of forensic analyses as objective science. Here, we present ethnographic data from Uganda, Tanzania, and Somaliland, three East African countries without fully developed domestic forensic anthropological capabilities, and the ways in which medicolegal practitioners and survivors of conflict have requested assistance with determining group affiliations of human remains. We demonstrate that such requests raise numerous questions related to best practices for forensic anthropologists working in postconflict contexts, given entrenchments of ethnic tensions, risks of renewed conflicts, effects on policy change, and colonial paternalism. Ultimately, we argue that ancestry knowledge production has spread beyond the United States, which requires investigation because methods intended for the United States—with legacies of scientific racism—inform forensic anthropological work in Eastern Africa.