"NYC Museum Closes Native American Exhibits in Response to New Federal Regulations"

The American Museum of Natural History in New York is closing two halls featuring Native American objects, citing their outdated nature and cultural insensitivity. 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 Harvard and the Cleveland Museum of Art, have taken similar steps, aiming to repatriate culturally significant items to Native American tribes. The revised regulations released by the U.S. Department of the Interior expand requirements for consulting with and receiving tribes' consent to exhibit and conduct research on Indigenous artifacts.