Tribal consent laws force New York museum to close Native American exhibits. Is this just the beginning?

Erasing history took a new step Saturday, as the latest regulation from President Joe Biden's administration forced the closure of multiple exhibits at a famous New York museum.

(Video: CBS News)

Almost two years to the day that the statue of renowned conservationist and New York President Theodore Roosevelt was removed from the steps of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), learning opportunities for both tourists and premises were removed, as two exhibitions were left indefinitely. Closed.

Following the expansion of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA), regulations went into effect this month requiring museums, among other things, to obtain the consent of “lineal descendants, tribes or [Native Hawaiian Organizations] before allowing any exhibition, access or research on human remains or cultural items”.

As a result, AMNH Director Sean Decatur notified staff a letter It was later announced Friday that the nearly 155-year-old museum's Eastern Woodland Hall and Great Plains Hall would be closed to visitors and employees.

“The halls we are closing are vestiges of a time when museums like ours did not respect the values, perspectives, and indeed the shared humanity of Indigenous peoples,” Decatur said. “Actions that may seem sudden to some may seem long ago to others.”

In addition to the closed exhibits, three cases outside Woodlands Hall, two cases in Mead Hall of Pacific Peoples and two cases in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall would be covered to meet the regulations.

Reacting to the sudden closure, Dan Shoop, 60, of Hell's Kitchen he said the New York Post, “People come here to learn and to see the displays. If they are not publicly displayed, it deprives people of the opportunity to learn about a culture of great historical importance to this country.”

As it happened, the Hall of Eastern Woodlands had long been a school field trip site for area social studies curricula, representing many of the cultures that were the first to interact with pilgrims, explorers, and European settlers

“It makes it cheaper for all of us. I think it's a shame because there's a lot of history that's being kept under wraps,” added Shoop, before expressing, “As I look around — these are basketry exhibitions and there's snowshoeing, I wonder which some of this display is particularly disrespectful. to religious beliefs. It doesn't look like it's ceremonial.”

Meanwhile, as The New York Times reported that the closures would amount to 10,000 square feet of exhibits, Decatur revealed to the paper: “Some objects may never be displayed again as a result of the consultation process. But we are looking to create smaller-scale programs throughout museum that can explain what kind of process is going on.”

“I think New Yorkers should have had a chance to say goodbye,” a museum insider told the Post. “You can't make a reservation for tomorrow. It would have been much better if they said it was closing in two weeks. A lot of people in this room said they wanted the opportunity for their children to see it.”

Similarly, a child outside the museum lamented to CBS News how it was “a lot, the fact that they shut down, like, representation and things that, you know, other people might be interested in learning about.”

In December, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland commented on the regulations, stating, “The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is an essential tool for the safe return of sacred objects to the communities to which they went. be stolen. Among the updates we are implementing are critical steps to strengthen the authority and role of Indigenous communities in the repatriation process. Finalizing these changes is an important part of laying the foundation for healing for our people.” .

Staff writer

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and seeker of truth, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and dog, and when he's not researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel ·the.

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