The American Museum of Natural History in New York announced Friday that it would close two rooms to the public in which Native American objects are exhibited, in accordance with new government rules.
Are we moving towards restitution to the tribes? The New York Museum of Natural History announced Friday that it would close two rooms to the public in which Native American objects are exhibited, in accordance with new government rules. These rules, put in place by the Joe Biden administration and entered into force on January 12, require museums to obtain consent from the descendants of indigenous tribes before exhibiting objects linked to cultural, religious or religious practices or beliefs. funerals.
Review the way indigenous cultures are represented
The objective is, ultimately, to return these objects to the tribes. In view of the large number of Native American objects exhibited in two of its rooms, the New York Museum of Natural History decided to close them rather than remove or cover certain objects. These items include a birch bark canoe from the Menominee tribe, 12,000-year-old darts and a Katsina doll from the Hopi tribe in Arizona.
The move reflects a sense of “growing urgency” on the part of all museums to review how they represent indigenous cultures, according to the prestigious museum’s director Sean Decatur.
The New York Museum of Natural History attracts some 4.5 million visitors a year. Other American museums, such as the Field Museum in Chicago, the Peaboy Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at Harvard University and the Cleveland Museum of Art, have covered some display cases or removed only the most sensitive objects, according to THE New York Times.