The museum suicide and cultural destruction has gone national (link). I am personally in mourning; the Museum of Natural History is closing to exhibits I grew up with, the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains exhibit. Can whatever brainchild came up with these regulations fine me a significant number of offended Native Americans? Excerpts:
Message: We are bad people for being here.
Why would actual Native Americans, including leaders, want to discourage education of the population about America's past? Unless the plan is to remove everyone post-colonization as well, leaving the museums an empty shell. I know that Americans are now being made to mourn not only their history, but their lives as well.The American Museum of Natural History will close two major halls exhibiting Native American objects, its leaders said on Friday, in a dramatic response to new federal regulations that require museums to obtain consent from tribes before displaying or performing research on cultural items.
“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,” Sean Decatur, the museum’s president, wrote in a letter to the museum’s staff on Friday morning. “Actions that may feel sudden to some may seem long overdue to others.”
The museum is closing galleries dedicated to the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains this weekend, and covering a number of other display cases featuring Native American cultural items as it goes through its enormous collection to make sure it is in compliance with the new federal rules, which took effect this month.
“Repatriation isn’t just a rule on paper,” Newland said, “but it brings real meaningful healing and closure to people.”
Message: We are bad people for being here.