Museums Across the US Close Native American Exhibits in Response to New Regulations

New York's American Museum of Natural History is closing two halls featuring Native American objects, citing their severe outdatedness and cultural sensitivity. This move reflects a growing urgency among museums to change their relationships with tribes and how they exhibit Indigenous cultures, in compliance with revamped federal regulations. Other institutions, such as the Field Museum in Chicago and Harvard University's Peabody Museum, have also taken similar steps to cover or remove Native American exhibits. The revised regulations require museums to obtain consent from tribes for exhibiting and conducting research on Indigenous artifacts, including human remains and cultural objects, with a focus on repatriation.