Museum of Natural History closes two Native American exhibits because they didn’t get ‘tribal consent’ under new Biden rules

The Biden administration has issued new federal regulations that mandate museums to get consent from Native American groups "before displaying or performing research on cultural items."  

The New York Times reports that the rule is part of the National Parks Service new regulations for the "Native American Graves and Repatriation Act" and "provide a step-by-step roadmap with specific timelines for museums and Federal agencies to facilitate disposition or repatriation." 

These regulations have caused the Museum of Natural History, founded by President Teddy Roosevelt, to close two major exhibit halls that house Native American artifacts and objects on the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains. The new rules offer "systematic processes" through which "museums and Federal agencies must defer to the Native American traditional knowledge of lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations." It went into effect January 12. 

In taking the drastic action, museum president Sean Decatur sent a letter to staff explaining why that research and information would no longer be available to museum visitors. "The halls we are closing are artifacts of an era when museums such as ours did not respect the values, perspectives and indeed shared humanity of Indigenous peoples. Actions that may feel sudden to some may seem long overdue to others." 

10,000 feet of exhibition space will be closed to the public because of this plan to stop showing Native American arts and artifacts out of concern that sharing the history of Native Americans would be offensive to Native Americans. Decatur said that while "some objects may never come back on display," new exhibits explaining why or the process of that might be put up. 

Key exhibits that have taught countless visitors to the museum about Native American history will now we covered up. These include exhibits on the Iroquois, Mohegans, Cheyenne, Arapaho and beautiful artifacts like the "birchbark canoe of Menominee origin in the Hall of Eastern Woodlands," the Times notes. 

The law requires that "to facilitate repatriation," museums "must complete an inventory of Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and a summary of other cultural items. A museum or Federal agency must ensure that these requirements are met for any Native American human remains or cultural item under its control regardless of where the holding or collection is physically located. Each museum and Federal agency must identify one or more representatives who are responsible for carrying out these requirements." 

In practice, this means that museums "must: Consult with lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations, evaluate requests for repatriation or claims for disposition of human remains or cultural items, and give public notice prior to disposition or repatriation." 

In enacting the law, Congress "sought to encourage a continuing dialogue between museums and Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and to promote a greater understanding between the groups while at the same time recognizing the important function museums serve in society by preserving the past."