New Approaches to Representing Culture

Planning your visit? | Planning a school trip?

Why are some exhibits changing?

The American Museum of Natural History has been home to exhibits about Native American cultures for more than 100 years. 

The first of these galleries opened in the 1890s. Other halls soon followed, were renovated, even relocated. But through the 20th century, the same overall approach persisted: museums, including ours, presented cultural items through the observations of outsiders, with little or no direct consultation with Native peoples about how they would want their stories to be told. 

That is beginning to change. The Museum is increasingly working with Native communities to showcase living cultures and traditions in exhibitions and programming.

The Changing Museum

Visit a new exhibition, The Changing Museum, to learn more about the past, present, and future of representing cultures at the American Museum of Natural History.

View Exhibition »
Glass display case houses a diagram that shows the reasoning behind the closure of two Native American cultural exhibits and the plans for the future. Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Why are some exhibitions closing?

In 2024, updated federal regulations created new rules for how sensitive Native American cultural items may be displayed. The Museum would now need to consult with Native groups to review whether such items were on view, including in the Hall of Eastern Woodlands and the Hall of Great Plains. 

These galleries, which were first developed in the early 1900s and last renovated in the 1960s, displayed hundreds of items. It became clear that temporary steps or partial approaches, such as covering cases or removing exhibits, would not be enough. Both exhibitions were severely out of date and did not represent contemporary Native cultures. The Museum decided to close both galleries.

How can visitors learn about Native cultures during closures?

After the 2024 hall closures, the Museum collaborated with Native advisors to develop two new resources: a new field trip experience about the traditional foods of the Haudenosaunee, to support Grade 4 curriculum about Native New York, and a short film about the Haudenosaunee today, available on-site and online.

What to See When You Visit

Developed in collaboration with Native artists and curators, these exhibitions illustrate a variety of approaches to cultural storytelling.

Haudenosaunee: People of the Longhouse 

Haudenosaunee: People of the Longhouse is on view in the gallery that formerly housed the Hall of Eastern Woodlands, Floor 3.

Updates from Museum President Sean Decatur

Museum President Sean Decatur continues to share new approaches to collections, exhibitions, and programming with the Museum community.

This webpage is supported by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation.