Museums Close Native American Exhibits Due to New Federal Regulations

The American Museum of Natural History is closing exhibits displaying Native American cultural materials that could be subject to return to tribal nations, in compliance with new federal regulations intended to speed up the process of repatriating ancestral remains and sacred items under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The move reflects a growing urgency among museums to change their relationships to and representation of Indigenous cultures, with other institutions also announcing similar actions. Despite these efforts, many human remains and sacred objects still reside in museum collections, and federal data shows that the American Museum of Natural History still maintains control of at least 1,800 ancestors and more than 4,060 funerary items buried with those individuals.