The American Museum of Natural History has recently announced the closure of two of its major Native American displays exhibiting artifacts belonging to indigenous tribes. This was done after new federal regulations, regarding showcasing and researching cultural items, took effect.
AMNH Complies to the New Changes in NAGPRA Regulations
In a publicized letter to museum staff last Jan. 26, AMNH President Sean Decatur wrote: "While the actions we are taking this week may seem sudden, they reflect a growing urgency among all museums to change their relationships to, and representation of, Indigenous cultures."
Indeed, the museum's decision to close its Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains galleries, along with other displays exhibiting cultural items, is part of a series of actions across other collecting institutions in the country that deal with the display of Native American artifacts.
Just last Jan. 12, when the regulations first took effect, Chicago's Field Museum became among the first ones to alter and cover its Native American displays following the updates to the regulations put into effect this month.
These new federal regulations are part of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA, which was passed in 1990 by then-President George H.W. Bush.
This act subjects all funerary objects, human remains, or other artifacts with ties to the heritage of indigenous tribes to be returned to their appropriate cultural owners, whether those are "Indian tribes" or "Native Hawaiian organizations"
The new updates were made to speed up the repatriation of cultural items and only gives the relevant institutions up to five years of preparation time, alongside granting added authority to tribes that are involved in the process of returning the objects.
"The Halls we are closing are vestiges of an era when museums such as ours did not respect the values, perspectives, and indeed shared humanity of Indigenous peoples," said President Decatur. "Actions that may feel sudden to some may seem long overdue to others."
