Ordered to Return Native American Artifacts, Museums Are Dawdling

Tucked within the expansive Native American halls of the American Museum of Natural History is a diminutive wooden doll that holds a sacred place among the tribes whose territories once included Manhattan. For more than six months, the ceremonial Ohtas, or "Doll Being," has been hidden after the museum and others nationally took dramatic steps to cover exhibits in response to new federal rules requiring institutions to return culturally significant items to tribes—or at least to obtain consent to display or study them. The doll is just one of some 1,800 items museum officials are reviewing.

But some tribal leaders remain skeptical, saying museums haven't acted swiftly enough, per the AP. The new rules were prompted by years of complaints from tribes that hundreds of thousands of items that should have been returned under the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 still remain in museum custody. "The collections, they're part of our story, part of our family," says Joe Baker, a Manhattan resident and member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians. "We need them home."

Sean Decatur, the New York museum's president, promises tribes will hear from officials soon. He said staff have been reexamining the displayed objects in order to begin contacting tribal communities. The museum also plans to open a small exhibit in the fall incorporating Native American voices and explaining the history of the closed halls, why changes are being made, and what the future holds. Museum officials envision a total overhaul of the closed Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains halls. "The ultimate aim is to make sure we're getting the stories right," Decatur says.

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Lance Gumbs, vice chair of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in New York's Hamptons, said he worries about the loss of representation of local tribes in public institutions. The American Museum of Natural History, he noted, is one of New York's major tourism draws and also a mainstay for generations of students learning about the region's tribes. He suggests museums use replicas made by Native peoples. "I don't think tribes want to have our history written out of museums," Gumbs says. "There's got to be a better way than using artifacts that literally were stolen out of grave sites." More here.

(More Native Americans stories.)