Two major exhibition halls and several other display cabinets at the American Museum of Natural History were empty and covered up on Friday morning as the museum shuttered all Native American-related displays to comply with new federal regulations, shocking new photos showed.
The glass cabinets in the museum’s halls dedicated to the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains looked eerily abandoned, just hours after museum director Sean Decatur announced the changes in a letter to staff Friday morning.
“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,” Decatur wrote in the missive obtained by The Post.
“Actions that may feel sudden to some may seem long overdue to others,” he added.
The closures will result in almost 10,000 square feet of exhibition spaces being off-limits to visitors, the New York Times noted.
The museum could not provide a timeline for when the reviewed exhibits will reopen, the outlet said.
“Some objects may never come back on display as a result of the consultation process. But we are looking to create smaller-scale programs throughout the museum that can explain what kind of process is underway,” Decatur told the Times.
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