GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Museums across the United States have been closing off sections and even covering displays in recent weeks due to new regulations on showcasing Native American artifacts, but the Grand Rapids Public Museum says decades of work with tribes means its exhibits follow policy.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Interior made several new changes to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which aims to protect the native tribes from being exploited. These new regulations include museums needing consent from descendants or the tribes themselves to have objects on display in exhibits.
A famed NYC museum is closing two Native American halls. Harvard and others have taken similar steps
New York’s American Museum of Natural History and Chicago’s Field Museum have shut off access to certain exhibits, saying they do not comply with current NAGPRA protocol and others across the country are following suit. But not in Grand Rapids.
The Grand Rapids Public Museum states that it is in full compliance with NAGPRA and is working with tribes in the state to keep it that way. It’s been something the museum has been doing since the 1990s after NAGPRA was first enacted in 1990.