History buffs blasted the American Museum of Natural History for closing all Native American-related displays on Friday, with one dismayed historian saying the now-empty main exhibit hall and cabinet show “history is being kept secret.”
“People come here to learn and see the displays,” Dan Shoop, 60, told The Post as he wandered the eerily abandoned hall dedicated to the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains.
“If it is not exhibited to the public, it robs the people of the opportunity to learn about a culture that has historical importance to this country.”
The surprise move comes just hours after museum director Sean Decatur announced the change in a letter to staff Friday morning.
“The hall we are closing is an artifact of an era when museums like ours did not respect the values, perspectives and indeed shared humanity of Aboriginal people,” Decatur wrote in an official letter obtained by The Post.
“A move that may seem sudden to some may seem long overdue to others,” he added.
The closing will leave nearly 10,000 square feet of exhibition space off limits to visitors, the New York Times said.
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Relocation Act (NAGPRA), AMNH is removing its displays of Native American relics with plans to return them to the tribes that once belonged to them.
Shoop said he raced to the museum after hearing the news to see the exhibit one last time.
“It’s cheap for all of us,” the Hells Kitchen native said. “I think it’s a shame because there’s so much history being kept secret.
“When I look around — this is a basket weaving exhibit and over there is snowshoe making — I wonder how many of these displays are so disrespectful to religious beliefs. It seems unceremonious,” he added, expressing his hope that the display would pay off.
Shoop was just one of many New Yorkers who visited the museum on Friday to pay their last respects to the exhibit.
A member of the museum told The Post that they were opposed to the way AHNM went about the closure and wished there was an advance warning before the cabinets were stripped.
“I think New Yorkers should have a chance to say goodbye,” said the person, who asked to remain anonymous.
“You can’t make a reservation for tomorrow. It would be better if they said it would be closed two weeks from now. A lot of people in this hall said they want their children to have the opportunity to see it.”
According to AMNH, the exhibit will reopen, although it could not provide a timeline.
“Some objects may not be exhibited again as a result of the consultation process. But we’re looking to create a smaller-scale program across the museum that can explain the kind of process that’s going on,” Decatur told the Times.
The changes are in response to new federal regulations that took effect this month on the Native American Graves Protection and Relocation Act (NAGPRA).
Several objects – including this canoe – will be removed from display on Saturday. American Museum of Natural History
Passed unanimously in 1990, the law sought to provide a protocol for museums and other institutions to return native human remains, burial objects and other “objects of cultural heritage” to recognized tribes, according to the National Park Service.
Most of the bodies and objects in question were seized from indigenous people without their consent or excavated and taken by non-indigenous anthropologists and collectors without regard to tribal traditions, the policy said.
Camilla Schaper of Harlem praised the museum for removing Native American relics, saying it was “the right thing to do.”
Schaper, who was born the same year the exhibit opened, said he visited for the first and last time on Friday.
“It belongs to different clans and it’s up to them to decide what’s for us and what’s for them,” the 57-year-old told The Post.
Another museum member agreed, saying it allowed the institution to reopen its Native American exhibit with a new perspective.
“It is fundamental to obtain permission from the descendants of the artifact. I think it’s appropriate,” they said.
“It will come back in another form. Looking around, the exhibition will be updated.”
An empty exhibit is seen at the American Museum of Natural History. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post People are seen walking past the covered exhibit. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post A museum visitor sits on a bench in front of a covered exhibit on Friday. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post
However, for years, critics called the law to include too many potential loopholes for institutions while placing unfair requirements on native tribes, the Cato Institute study explained.
As a result, the Biden administration has pushed to speed up the repatriation process — which gave way to revised rules that were finalized in December, the Interior Department announced at the time.
New rules passed last month aim to ease some of those conflicts – including a stipulation to “require free, prior and informed consent before any exhibition of, access to, or research on human remains or cultural objects.”
The closure will leave nearly 10,00 square feet of exhibition space off limits to visitors. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post
“NAGPRA is an important piece of legislation that helps us heal from some of the more painful times in our past by empowering Tribes to protect what is sacred to them. Changes to the Department’s NAGPRA regulations are long overdue and will strengthen our ability to enforce the law and assist Tribes in the return of ancestral and sacred cultural objects,” Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland said in December.
The revised addition is also intended to expedite repatriation by giving institutions five years to prepare all human remains and related objects for repatriation — and giving tribes more power in the process.
“We’re finally being heard — and it’s not a fight, it’s a conversation,” Myra Masiel-Zamora, an archaeologist and curator with the Pechanga Band of Indians, told the Times.
“We can say, ‘This needs to go home,’ and I hope there will be no pushback,” he said, adding that there has been a significant change in conversations with institutions in just two weeks since the new rules were introduced. effect on 12 Jan.
Two halls at the American Museum of Natural History will be closed to visitors and staff. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post
Museum leaders have consulted with lawyers and additional curators as they prepare to comply with the policy, the Times said.
Many institutions will also hire staff to help them meet the requirements.
While similar changes are underway at other museums — including the Field Museum in Chicago, according to the Times — the changes at the American Museum of Natural History, which receives about 5 million visitors annually, will likely be among the most significant.
“What may seem incongruous to some is because of the notion that museums are stuck in the amber description of the world. But museums are at their best when they reflect changing ideas,” Decatur told the outlet.
Exhibits will be reviewed under new federal regulations. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post
Some of the objects removed from the display included those used to teach students on field trips about native tribes, the Times said.
Highlights including Menominee canoes and Hopi Katsina dolls are now inaccessible, the outlet explained.
“The revised policy provides better guidance on museum responsibilities for NAGPRA and now outlines each step in the process,” said Dr. Candace Sall, director of the Museum of American Anthropology and Division of Archeology at the University of Missouri, told The Post Friday.
“Best practices in museum work include tribal consultation and many museums have been consulting with tribes for years. As we prepare to open the museum in our new location, we are actively consulting with our tribal partners as we apply a knowledge co-production framework for new exhibits,” he continued.
“I hope everyone remembers that this is sensitive work that must be done with respect,” he said.
The new rules have met with some pushback — including concerns from the Society for American Archeology that the ruling interferes with museum collection management practices.
The museum could not provide a timeline for when the revised exhibit would reopen. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post The changes are a response to new federal regulations that took effect this month regarding the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. J. Messerschmidt for NY Post Museum leaders have been consulting with attorneys and additional curators as they prepare to comply with the policy. J. Messerschmidt for the NY Post
Returning authentic human remains – which are not normally allowed to be displayed and stored in museums across the country – is the main goal of the new rules.
As of 2023, the remains of approximately 96,000 individuals remain in institutional custody, according to the federal report.
But there is also some wariness from tribal leaders who worry that they may not be able to support the flood of new requests from museums, the Times said.
At a committee meeting last June, Scott Willard, who works on repatriation issues for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, expressed discomfort with how the new rules could make remaining Natives sound like “throwaways,” the newspaper reported.
“The garage sale mentality of ‘Give it all away now’ is very offensive to us,” he said at the time.
Willard did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the latest action.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
